


Kiss Me On This Cold December Night

by rosegoldlourry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Astrology, Christmas, F/M, Fluff, It's also very Christmassy, It's very cute I promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 15:03:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 29,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13126152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosegoldlourry/pseuds/rosegoldlourry
Summary: Maybe she’s being ridiculous, because it’s not like she expects to just lose it and throw all caution to the wind and kiss him blindly. However, the emotional turmoil of having him so close, but not close enough, is so exhausting after long extents of time. She’s given up hope of her feelings going away, and she’s accepted it, but it doesn’t mean that it’s not hard when all she wants is for him to look at her differently and think of her differently. Nova wants to be much more than his friend.She can’t understand why it’s all hitting her so hard.Maybe it’s because she’s in a romantic cabin in the woods that feels a lot like a couple’s holiday with only the two of them. But it’s not, and she can’t let herself think that. Because the crash back to reality is going to hurt more than the high climb to the clouds.Or a friends trip to a cabin in the woods turns into a week where Nova has to face her feelings for Niall.





	1. I'm Older Now But Not Done Hoping

**Author's Note:**

> Posting this Christmas fic just in time for Christmas! I've worked on this fic for a while and I'm so excited to finally be posting it! I hope you all enjoy. Also if you noticed that the chapters are song lyrics from Cold December Night by Michael Buble then I love you.

“We’re expecting blizzard conditions to start late tonight, continuing all the way through tomorrow morning and part way through the day. We advise that everyone stays in their homes to avoid any accidents, as again, there will be blizzard conditions and snow accumulating up to about two feet. Looks like we may all be stuck where we are for the holidays!”

Nova lets out a deep, frustrated sigh and turns the volume down on the radio, resting her elbow on the car door and propping her head in her hand. Next to her, Niall huffs out a soft snort. She looks over at him, eyes narrowed.

“It’ll be fine, kid,” he soothes, taking his eyes off the road for a second to give Nova an encouraging look.

She sits up straighter in her seat and argues, “No it won’t! You and I are the only ones that left this early. Everyone else is going to be stuck back in London, and they won’t be able to come.”

Nova, Niall, and the rest of the band, as well as Sophia, Perrie, and Lottie all planned a trip to Niall’s family cabin, which is completely secluded in the woods, which also means that it is a few hours out of London. Everyone planned on leaving on the seventeenth, about a week before Christmas, giving everyone time to go to their respective homes for the holidays after the five days in the cabin, while still being able to celebrate with friends. Of course, the weather, it seems was not in on the plans. A big snow storm is supposed to produce overnight, causing conflicts with most of the traveling’s to the cabin, except for Nova and Niall.

Both of them made sure they had a free day once they heard about the snow storm earlier in the week; Nova took off work and Niall cancelled all his meetings, thinking the others were doing the same thing, only to discover they had not. Now, as she and Niall are two hours into their journey, Nova’s worried that none of their friends will be able to join them on this winter vacation.

Not only was she looking forward to spending quality time with all of them, but she knows she cannot survive a week in a remote cabin alone with Niall. It’s not that Nova doesn’t like Niall, it’s actually quite the opposite- which is the whole problem. Nova has been hopelessly endeared and enamored by Niall, to the point that it only took weeks for it to come to a full-fledged, head over heels, dooming crush. And after a couple of months, she worried that her crush had progressed to something much more serious. Now, after knowing him for almost a year that statement has come to be true, much to her dismay. Even knowing so, Nova will never get the nerve to tell him, too afraid of losing the friendship she has with him already, so she stays quiet, and tries as hard as possible to be completely platonic when around him and not go all heart eyed. Thankfully, she has good friends who keep her in check- Sophia, Perrie, and Lottie are the only ones that know, but she suspects that the others have an inkling. She can only hope Niall hasn’t got a clue.

Pulling Nova out of her thoughts, Niall replies, “I’m sure they’ll be able to leave before the snow starts and get there with no issues.”

Quietly, she murmurs, “I’m just afraid they won’t. And our whole trip will be ruined.”

“Oh it won’t be ruined, darlin’!” Niall cheers, ever the optimist that he is. “We can always plan another one during January or February.”

“Not after we’ve all taken the days off work! I don’t think I can afford to take off another whole week, Niall,” she huffs, slightly annoyed that Niall makes this all sound so simple. But to him, it probably is. He wouldn’t be affected by being holed up in a cozy cabin alone with her for a week because he doesn’t have earth shattering feelings for her. He won’t have to worry about losing his cool and succumbing to the love that pours out of his heart. No, he doesn’t have that problem.

It’s all just very exhausting.

“Oh, don’t fret so much. It’ll all be fine, Nov,” he replies casually, one hand on the wheel, the other one resting on the gearshift.

“Right,” she deadpans, turning to look out the window. There is already a small layer of snow on the ground from earlier in the week, laying delicately along tree branches and housetops. Winter really is her favorite time of the year, so it’s no surprise that she’s never really minded the snow and work that comes along with it. She thinks that this may be the first time in her life that she’s come to dislike it.

Pushing the thought away, she turns the radio back up, that’s currently playing some pop song that Niall immediately starts singing along to. She forces herself to relax, listening to Niall’s gentle voice and watching as the world outside blurs into white.

/////

Nova and Niall arrive at the cabin when the sun is beginning to set, pink and orange hues coloring the darkening sky. She has to admit, the cabin, along with the sky behind it, is a sight to behold. The cabin has been in possession of Niall’s family as long as he can remember, something he always talked fondly of as he told her stories about it on the car ride. After being in the band for some time and accumulating more than enough money to support himself, he decided to renovate the cabin so it was more suitable and enjoyable for himself and his family. And the results were incredible.

Now, as she peers out the car window, she admires the dark wood that covers the exterior of the cabin, a porch with a swing sitting proudly aside the royal blue door. The cabin rises in three floors, a step up from the original two that it was. Surrounding the cabin, is a large cluster of beautiful pine trees, dark green needles covered with icy snow that glistens in the lowering sun. There is also an unattached garage to the left of the house, where Niall parks his car. “The advantages of being here first,” he smirks as he pulls in.

They grab the various bags they both have before Nova follows Niall to the front door. He unlocks it with a dramatic swing, revealing the entryway. She steps inside cautiously, looking around in awe as she does. The entryway is small and simple, with a short hallway lined with framed pictures of Niall’s family, as well as some framed artwork of beautiful forests. Right inside the door is a long coat rack and underneath it, a space for shoes. After they both dispose of those things, Nova walks past the entryway into a large, cozy living room that legitimately makes her jaw drop.

Niall grins when he comes into the room next to her, giggling at her reaction. “I figured you’d like this room.”

Nova completely ignores the flutters in her heart at Niall knowing her so well to exclaim incredulously, “Like it? I love it!” She unceremoniously drops her bags to the dark hardwood floor that continued from the entryway to further travel into the room. Against the right wall, there is a large floor to ceiling window that shows off the mass of trees that envelops the cabin. Looking straight ahead, there is a large wood burning fireplace, lined with tan and dark brown stones, a pile of logs already nestled in the center. Above that, there is a dark wood mantel piece that has glass deer statues on either side, as well as a large Christmas candle in the center. Looking up a bit higher is a flat screen TV that she can already imagine popping films into and settling in front of the fire for a movie night.

Looking towards the center of the room, there is a massive couch the color of chocolate with the softest looking cushions known to mankind. On each side of the couch, there is a side table, adorned with a lamp. Next to the side table on the left is a wide fluffy chair, which she immediately knows she will be calling dibs on all the time. Adjacent from that is another, smaller couch, with similarly looking comfy cushions.

Nova flops herself down on the largest couch and lets out a pleased groan. “Oh my god, I’m never getting up.”

“Never getting up?” Niall teases with a look of mirth in his blue eyes. God, does she love him. “Then I guess you’re never going to see the kitchen or the bedrooms upstairs.”

“Never mind,” she replies instantly. “I’m up!”

Niall lets out a loud laugh as she springs up from the couch to stand next to him. “Alright m’lady, shall we continue on with the tour?” He offers his arm to her and she accepts it while laughing, linking her arm with his.

She lets out another stream of giggles before replying, “We shall, sir.”

“So, over there is the stairs,” Niall says, pointing with the arm that’s not linked with Nova’s to a staircase that is a couple of feet from the wall with the window. “But let’s go to the kitchen first.”

They trot to the left through an open doorway to the kitchen. Much like the living room, the kitchen has a color scheme of browns and tans. The marble countertops are a mixture of a nude color and flecks of gold and all the cabinets are a creamy dark brown color. “Impressive,” she comments. Nova pulls away from Niall’s side to look out the window that sits above the sink. Outside, the sun’s light casts an amber glow through the trees, showcasing the fire pit that’s at the back of the cabin.

“I’d say we could use that but it might be a bit too cold,” he says, coming up behind her to look out the window too. “Ooh, cool sky.”

“I know,” she agrees. “So, can I see the rest of the place, tour guide?”

“Right this way,” he directs with an arm thrown out the way they came. As they walk, he points to a small hallway off of the kitchen. “Down there is a bathroom and closet,” he informs her. “Nothing too exciting, you can look there later if you want.” She nods along and continues to follow him up the carpeted stairs to the second floor. There, she sees a long hallway, three doors on each side and one straight ahead.

Her mouth gapes open. “Oh my god, Niall! You went to town in this place!”

He chuckles. “I wanted to make sure there were a lot of rooms so when my family and friends come we can all spread out and be comfortable. It really wasn’t a big deal.”

Nova scoffs because of course it wasn’t a big deal to him. When she thinks of a cabin, she thinks of something so small it only has three rooms altogether. But alas, Niall has created a dream cabin and she’s sure not going to complain about it.

She follows him through the first door on the right, curiosity getting the best of her. Inside, she finds a room straight out of a hotel- the coziest, homeliest hotel ever created. In the center of the room is a large bed with a gorgeous dark wood headboard and a window overlooking the woods behind it. The bed has white sheets and a dark brown toned duvet that is the softest thing in the world; it might even be better than the couch downstairs! The bed has three layers of pillows, the back two layers are plain white pillowcases and the front two are furry shades of nude. On either side of the bed is a small white nightstand with a lamp atop it. On the right wall there is a tall dresser and a couple of framed pictures mounted around it. In front of the bed is a fireplace, much like the one downstairs, except not as big. And to the left side there is a bathroom, complete with a large mirror, shower stall, jacuzzi, and double sinks. 

“This. Is. Incredible,” Nova gushes as she leaves the bathroom and sits on the edge of the bed.

Niall laughs and sits next to her with a slightly bashful shrug. “This is supposed to be the main room, if you will. It’s the only one with a jacuzzi in the bathroom,” he informs her.

She frowns jokingly. “Boo!”

Niall cackles joyfully and hops up from the bed. “Do you want to go look at the rest of the bedrooms?”

She stands up as well. “Lead the way.”

Niall shows her the other five bedrooms, each fairly similar to the ones before it. All of them are based around the same color scheme as the rest of the cabin- browns, tans, and whites. However, most of the other rooms had an accent color ranging from a forest green, dark blue, and maroon. And of course, none of the other bathrooms had a jacuzzi, like Niall said, however, they do have beautiful claw foot bathtubs that just beg Nova to soak in for long hours. All in all, Niall did an incredible job decorating the cabin and making it feel as cozy as possible.

“Niall… this place is literally the best thing ever. You did really, really well,” she compliments earnestly.

He looks shy, cheeks going a bit rosy as he stares at the hardwood floor. “It wasn’t hard, just picked out a bunch of stuff and someone threw it together for me.”

Nova’s heart is in her throat at seeing Niall so timid and humble and she’s again reminded why she hopes so badly that the others will get here soon. She can’t be left here alone with him, the beautiful and amazing man that he is.

“Give yourself more credit,” she murmurs softly. “You did well.” Nova gives him a serious look and he just nods his head, clearing his throat.

“So there’s one last room to show you,” Niall says, directing her to the door at the very end of the hallway. He opens it, revealing a staircase, which she begins to climb, anxious to see how he furnished the small attic at the very peak of the cabin. When Nova reaches the top, she finds a cute little sitting room, fluffy bean bags sitting against a wall with a window behind it. There’s a bookshelf to the right filled with books and picture frames. Across the room is a cream couch with a coffee table in front of it. The roof dips down into the room in a triangle form, making the space feels quaint and intimate. On the roof itself is two skylights, one on each half of the triangle, which lets in soft streams of pink light.

Without even having to ask, Niall begins to explain his purpose of creating this room. “I wasn’t sure what to do with this room at first, since I knew the ceiling would be quite low. But then I thought I’d just make it into a super casual sitting room. And I thought this would be a cool place to have a bunch of books that someone could come up here and read.”

“Definitely,” she agrees, skimming her fingers over some of the books in the book shelf. “This is such nice space. What about them?” she asks, pointing to the windows on the roof as she sits down on one of the bean bags.

“Oh those? I really wanted a place you could look at the stars without going outside. This time of year is a bit hard to stargaze since it’s so cold so I thought this was a good alternative,” he responds, throwing himself onto the bean bag next to her.

Every part of her has to hold off yelling, “I love you!” The thought of being his girlfriend and coming up here at night, lying on the floor, and looking at the stars is almost too much to bear, especially knowing their common interest in astronomy.

God, she hopes the others are on their way.

Realizing she didn’t respond, she mutters, “Such a good idea.”

Niall grins dopily, eyes shining with something she can’t read but wishes she could decipher. “You think so?”

“Definitely.”

“We’ll have to do it one night,” Niall suggests, like he didn’t just make Nova’s heart beat a thousand times faster. “Although… it may have to be tonight; we won’t be able to see anything once it snows.”

“Sure,” she says, tension in her jaw. “Sounds good.”

“So,” Niall begins, running his fingers through his hair quickly. “I was thinking that we should run into the town that’s near here quickly and pick up some food and call the others to see if they’ve left yet.”

“Sounds like a plan.” she shrugs, happy to get out of this romantic and intimate cabin. She needs a step away.

/////

“What do you mean you can’t leave?”

“Exactly what I said, babe,” Sophia replies regretfully with a hint of amusement in her voice. “It’s already started to snow and it’s only going to get worse. It wouldn’t be safe.”

“But you’re going to leave tomorrow, right?” Nova asks desperately.

Sophia sighs softly on the other end. “Nov, I just don’t know if we’ll be able to. We may be snowed in.”

“You can’t leave me!” she exclaims, looking over at Niall who is a couple aisles over and on the phone with one of the boys. “You can’t leave me alone with him for five days!”

“I’m sorry, I really am. But it’ll be fine, you know?”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to handle it,” Nova replies seriously, lowering her voice.

“Maybe that’s not a bad thing,” she answers gently. “Maybe you should just-”

“I’m not telling him,” she hisses, her blood boiling beneath her pale skin. They just won’t leave this alone. She doesn’t want to tell Niall and that’s all there is to it.

“I think you’d be surprised about the amount of times I’ve seen him looking at you when he thought no one else would notice. Babe, I think he’s gone for you. We all do.”

“He’s not, you’re all just delusional. And,” she pauses to find the freshest loaf of bread on the shelf in front of her. “I’m not going to risk a friendship just to make things easier.”

“Babe,” she begins.

Nova cuts her off and says, “Listen, Soph, I gotta go but… try and get up here as soon as you can, okay?”

“I will. And you’ll be okay,” she encourages.

“I’ll manage. Bye Sophia.”

She hangs up before Sophia can respond and lets out a deep sigh of frustration. After pocketing her phone, she goes to find Niall, putting the loaf of bread in the cart once she does.

“Any luck?” he asks.

“No, Sophia said that it’s already started snowing. They’re not leaving tonight. She’s not even sure if they’ll be able to leave tomorrow.”

Niall grimaces, “Louis said the same thing.”

“This is awful,” Nova pouts. “Our entire vacation has went down the drain.”

“Hey,” he stops her with a hand on her arm. “It’ll be fine. It’s not like they can’t leave another day. So, we’ll have one or two days without them but we can still have fun, yeah?” His eyes draw her in, exhilarating and soothing all at once. A bit like going on a new adventure and coming home.

“Yeah,” she agrees a bit breathlessly.

He looks in her eyes for a minute longer before letting go of her arm and pushing the cart further down the aisle.

After about another fifteen minutes or so, the duo seems to have gotten everything that they’ll need. Considering the others were bringing up food as well, Nova and Niall had to take into account that they won’t have that food for another couple of days. Needless to say, a lot of food was purchased at the small grocery store. At least the cashier seemed thrilled.

When they get back to the cabin, they both take the food in and put it away amidst mindless chatter. After they’ve finished that, Nova and Niall decide to get settled in a room before eating some dinner.

“You should take the first bedroom I showed you,” Niall says from behind her as they climb up the stairs with their suitcases dragging along.

When she gets to the top of the stairs, she stops and turns around to give Niall an incredulous look. “Absolutely not. This is your family’s cabin and you designed this place yourself. I think you deserve that room.”

“I don’t really mind,” he shrugs.

She puts her hands on her hips. “No, you should take that room. Anyway, I had my eye on one.”

“Oh, which one?” he asks curiously with raised brows.

“The maroon room,” she responds immediately.

Niall nods his head like he was confirming something he was thinking but didn’t share. “Suits you.”

She looks to the floor to hide the absurd flush on her cheeks. How does he always have this effect on her without really doing anything? “Right, well I’m gonna go unpack so… See you downstairs in ten?”

He nods wordlessly and disappears into the first room. She sighs softly and rolls her suitcase down the hall to the second door on the opposite side and goes in. As she puts her clothes away in the dresser, she anxiously wonders how it will be with just her and Niall here. It was okay all day, but that’s because she knew (or at least she thought that she knew) that their friends would all be there later to take the pressure off of her. And maybe she’s being ridiculous, because it’s not like she expects to just lose it and throw all caution to the wind and kiss him blindly. However, the emotional turmoil of having him so close, but not close enough, is so exhausting after long extents of time. She’s given up hope of her feelings going away, and she’s accepted it, but it doesn’t mean that it’s not hard when all she wants is for him to look at her differently and think of her differently. Nova wants to be much more than his friend.

She doesn’t have it that bad and she knows it; there are people that had loved someone for years who never had their love given back. So she can’t understand why it’s all hitting her so hard.

Maybe it’s because she’s in a romantic cabin in the woods that feels a lot like a couple’s holiday with only the two of them. But it’s not, and she can’t let herself think that. Because the crash back to reality is going to hurt more than the high climb to the clouds.

So she rolls her shoulders back and breathes deeply for a few seconds before ambling down the stairs to meet Niall for dinner. Let the night begin.

/////

After dinner, in the middle of brewing tea, Niall says, “I think we should go up in the attic and stargaze. It may be our only chance if it’s going to snow more.”

Nova smiles at him gently while loading some plates into the dishwasher. “Sure, sounds good.”

So with a cup of tea each, Niall and Nova make their way up the two flights of stairs to the top level of the cabin. Niall drags the two bean bags so they are directly underneath the skylights, leaving them close together. They both sit down, reclining to look out the window.

Niall’s snort makes Nova look over in confusion. He giggles once more before saying, “You know, when I asked the builders to do this, I never even really thought about whether we’d be able to see the stars from here.”

Nova laughs along, leaning her head back even more. “Well you’re in luck,” she whispers with a smile. “You can see them perfectly from here.”

The pair grow quiet as they gaze up at the vast expanse of dark blue sky littered with miniscule spots, too far away to see their true potential. It’s all very breathtaking and reminds Nova how small she really is in comparison; how little her love problems really matter.

“Do you know what your name means?” Niall asks randomly, voice soft as he breaks their silent streak.

Nova shrugs. “Sure, it’s basically a star that gets super bright and then goes back to how it originally was, right?”

“Yeah exactly,” Niall says, nodding along. “It’s kind of fitting, I’ve always thought. You remind me of a nova.”

“Oh something that’s only special for a little while before becoming mediocre again? Thanks, Niall,” she jokes, although her stomach still flutters at the thought of him thinking about the meaning of her name and comparing it to her.

“No,” Niall shakes his head, eyebrows furrowed in serious thought. She turns her head to watch him instead of the stars; he turns out to be much more interesting. “No,” he repeats, “It’s different than that. See, you remind me of a nova because there are moments when you just thrive, with the things you love, the things you’re passionate about, like when a nova brightens. But it doesn’t mean that when you’re not bright that you’re not special. A star is still beautiful, no matter how bright it is. It just seems that only the people that care to see a nova then are the ones that do.”

Nova’s brain short circuits, her heart racing painfully fast in her chest that she’s almost worried Niall can hear it. That speech… that’s not something you say to someone who you don’t care about. That’s not something you say to one of your friends.

Nova can’t find a response without blurting out, “I love you,” so she stays silent.

“Sorry,” Niall murmurs with a laugh, however it seems forced, like he’s uncomfortable. Unfortunately, Nova can’t read the expression on his face. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about astrology, you know? I love it. I guess I got a little carried away.”

“It’s alright,” Nova replies, somehow managing to make her mouth move without stuttering, though her voice does sound strained.

They fall into silence again, this time it’s a bit thicker with unsaid words that neither Nova nor Niall seem to really comprehend. The only noise in the room is their quiet sips of tea and the shuffling of socked feet against the carpet. They both continue to stare out the window, watching those stars that are oh so far away and Nova can’t help but wonder if there’s a nova out there right now.

She didn’t know that they were waiting for something to happen until she hears Niall gasp gently, “Look.”

Flying across the sky is a shooting star, looking so graceful and majestic that it’s hard to imagine is a burning ball of light racing towards something.

“Wow,” she whispers, feeling her breathing catch in her throat.

They’re silent as they watch the light go across the darkness until it fades out. Once it’s gone, Nova feels as if she’s emerging from a dream, vision hazy and movements slower than normal. Their breathing sounds much louder than before and suddenly, she can’t get Niall’s voice out of her head. “It just seems that only the people that care to see a nova then are the ones that do.” But what does that mean? Nova’s head is too jumbled to come up with the answer now.

“Let’s go to bed,” Niall whispers, sitting up in the bean bag and rubbing at his eyes.

The finality of the shooting star almost feels like an end to a chapter, although Nova’s not sure whether that’s good or bad or what’s to be expected in the future.

But what she does know is that she needs to get some sleep. Maybe that’s where the next chapter starts.

“Yeah,” Nova agrees. “Let’s.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave kudos if you liked it please! And drop a comment because I would love to hear your thoughts!


	2. Loneliness is What I've Captured

Nova wakes up to sunlight gently lapping through the closed blinds onto her laxed face. The sheets around her are warm and soft against her bare legs as she shuffles them beneath the covers. Her eyes peel open slowly and flutter close a few times before she can focus on the screen of her phone displaying the time- 10:05. She can’t even remember the last time she slept in that late.

She lets out a soft hum as she rolls onto her back and stretches her sleepy limbs in attempt to wake them up. Then, reluctantly, she leaves the warm comforts of the bed in favor of going to the bathroom. After washing her face and brushing out her messy hair, she grabs a thick, white blanket and wraps it around her shoulders to conceal herself from the frigid air. She slips on a pair of long pajama bottoms as an afterthought before leaving her bedroom and walking down the stairs.

She rubs at her eyes behind her black framed glasses as they adjust to the sudden brightness in the living room. The view outside the window is one of the first things she sees, and it is magnificent. It began to snow last night as they were going to bed and it must have continued all night because there is a lot of snow outside. She takes a minute to stand in front of the window and gawk at the white expanse that covers every surface, only stopping once her stomach growls violently.

She quietly makes her way into the kitchen, where she sees Niall sitting on one of the stools at the bar. He has a large mug of coffee sitting in front of him as he looks out the window, presumably at the snow.

“Good morning,” she murmurs softly as she fully steps into the kitchen.

Niall whips his head around to look at her, giving her a delicate smile. “Good morning, petal.”

Her stomach does all types of swooping motions at the nickname. Nova has to remind herself that it means nothing, that he uses a lot of endearments for people, that’s just Niall. However, that endearment paired up with his gruff morning voice is almost too much for her to handle after just waking up. And oh man, is he a sight to behold in the morning. His brunette hair is messy atop his head in the best type of way. It makes her ache to run her fingers through it and mess it up even more. His dark stubble is more defined; he clearly hasn’t shaved yet and she loves the way it contrasts against his pale skin. His ensemble of comfy clothes makes him that much more inviting. Nova wants nothing more than to kiss him.

She makes herself tea instead.

She busies herself with filling the kettle, turning it on, and grabbing a mug out of the cabinet. She drops a Yorkshire tea bag inside it and impatiently waits for the kettle to be done, all while feeling Niall’s eyes following her movements. Once her tea is poured and steam is rising lazily in the air to tickle her face, she looks over to Niall to find him watching with a look of amusement. Although, that’s not right, because there’s something else present in his eyes, isn’t there? Could it be fondness? She really can’t be sure; it might just be the sleepiness distorting her view.

“What?” Nova ask insecurely, pulling the blanket tighter around her like it can shield her from his gentle eyes.

“Nothing,” he grins down at his coffee, idly tracing the rim with his forefinger. “You just look really cozy right now, is all.”

“Oh,” she replies dumbly. What does that mean? Does he think she looks cozy and he wants to cuddle her or does he just think she looks comfortable? Why was he looking at her so softly before he said that? Nova tries not to read too far into it, but it’s quite hard not to when she’s spent the last year of their friendship desperately looking for signs of affection.

Niall awkwardly clears his throat, before lifting his mug to take a sip. Is that a hit of blush on his cheeks? She wishes more than ever that the girls were here to help her decipher the situation; she’s too far in her head to tell.

“So, I’m planning on making eggs, do you want some?” she asks, grabbing the carton of eggs out of the massive stainless steel fridge.

He smiles at her over the rim of his mug. “That’d be great Novs, thanks.”

She turns her back to him as she puts a pan on the stove and turns on the burner. “Course,” she replies shyly. “Would you want to pop some toast in the toaster?”

“You got it.”

Niall and Nova move around each other seamlessly as they prepare a late breakfast, the air around them slightly heavy with unspoken questions. Or maybe that’s just how it feels to Nova.

When the eggs are done, she scoops them in a large bowl and sets them on the counter where Niall already has two plates set out. The two of them sit quietly together as they fill their plates. After a couple of bites, Niall breaks the silence. “How did you sleep last night?”

She groans in pleasure, “So good. That mattress is like sleeping on cloud.”

His amusement is clear this time as he piles eggs on top of his buttered toast. “I’m glad you think so.”

“What about you?”

“I slept pretty good as well. Was really nice to sleep in,” he comments as an afterthought.

She nods her head vigorously. “So nice.” She takes a bite of her eggs, making sure to swallow them before asking, “What’s the plans for today?”

Niall messes with his hair and scrunches up his eyebrows. “Nothin’ I’m afraid. We’re snowed in.”

“What?” she exclaims in disbelief.

Niall laughs at her shock, eyes crinkling up prettily. “Babe, did you look outside?”

She rolls her eyes, “Of course I did. I just didn’t realize it was that bad.”

The man beside her shrugs. “I mean, technically we could shovel and then we wouldn’t be snowed in but… that’s a hell of a lot of snow. Plus, we’re on vacation. I’m pretty sure neither of us want to spend it shoveling. I say we just leave it.”

“But what about the others?” She rubs her crummy hands on a napkin before continuing, “What if they come up today or tomorrow and we haven’t shoveled and then they can’t get it?”

Niall looks at her for a second, long enough for her to wonder if she has something on her face. Before Nova has a chance to ask, he says, “You’re quite the worry wart, you know?”

She shrugs helplessly. “It’s what I do best.”

He laughs, sipping the last of his coffee. “C’mon kid, relax, we’re on vacation.”

“That’s what I used to say to my parents when we went on vacation. They never listened. I think they were doing something right,” she jokes.

Niall presses his forehead on the cool counter as he laughs. “Oh c’mon, I’m serious,” he points a finger at her and wiggles it teasingly. “You need to chill.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Got it, dad.”

“Ew,” Niall says immediately, face scrunching up in disgust.

Nova laughs so hard her tea almost comes out of her nose. “Oh my god, your face!”

“Let’s talk about something else, please,” he begs, blue eyes wide.

She nods her head and murmurs through her bite of toast, “So what should we do today, then?”

Niall scratches his chin as he thinks. “Movie day?” he asks, tilting his head to the side adorably.

“Sounds good to me.”

/////

“I’m just saying that the romantic aspect was completely unnecessary to the plot of the movie. How does a park full of dinosaurs that go loose have anything to do with love?” Nova questions, sitting up straight on the couch as Niall gets up to take Jurassic World out of the DVD player and replaces it with his movie of choice.

“I don’t know,” he says, returning to the couch and pulling his blanket back over his lap. “I think it makes it more interesting, you know? It’s got different aspects for people who enjoy different things.”

“But it’s a movie about dinosaurs. I’m watching a movie about dinosaurs because I like dinosaurs. If I wanted to watch a romance movie I would have watched one,” she argues.

He looks over at her as she talks, blue eyes shining like stars in the desolate black sky. “But it’s kinda romantic isn’t it? The hard ass boss falls for the carefree raptor trainer amidst a troubling time. The whole two worlds collide thing.”

She shrugs, “It’s not very original.”

“But it reminds people that you can find love in the strangest ways.”

Nova looks at Niall in shock, confused by the sudden deepness of the conversation. Something in his face chills her right to the bone but simultaneously warms her all over. Is it hopefulness? But what is he hopeful for?

“I guess that’s… true,” she trails off as she turns to look at the screen that’s now playing The Hangover. “I still stick by the romantic plot being unnecessary.”

The quietness in the room feels heavy and she wonders if this discussion somehow became a metaphor for something different. She looks at the boy sat at the other end of the couch out of the corner of her eye and sees him playing with the edge of the blanket, lips slightly down-turned. Right, okay, Nova has no idea what just happened. She urgently needs the girls’ help.

“Niall?” she asks, desperate to change the conversation and the frown on his normally cheery face.

“Yeah?”

“Can we watch Step Brothers later?”

Blue eyes meet her own brown ones, a grin crinkling the skin beside his. “Definitely.”

She grins back at him, “Cool.”

Everything is weird, but everything is okay. That’s all she can ask for right now. Things feel on the verge of tipping over and Nova is prepared to watch them fall because she’s not sure if she’s strong enough to catch them on the way down.


	3. I'm Yours For the Taking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit angsty so get ready!

The next morning brings gentle snowfall and Nova is almost positive the others aren’t coming today. There’s no way to find out for sure, with no internet access for another twenty minutes. It’s a blessing and a curse not having their phones readily available at every second.

“Looks like you’re stuck with me for another day,” Niall announces happily, throwing an arm around her shoulders and looking out the large window with her. Any traces of the quiet, thoughtful boy from last night is long gone, replaced with a happier, giggly Niall. She’s thankful for the change however, happy and giggly Niall is one she’s accustomed to dealing with.

“Oh god, if they don’t get here soon I’m going to have to run for the hills,” she jokes half-heartedly.

“Oh don’t worry about it,” Niall waves his hand through the air dismissively. “The next time we go into town I’m planning on leaving you stranded there.”

“Wow thanks,” she voices dryly.

“Aw, I’m just kiddin’ Nov!” He drags her into a hug and she pretends to hate it but every part of her yearns for this all the time. His arms are warm and he smells musky and wonderful; Nova wants to drown herself in the scent.

“Alright, alright, let me go, you big cuddle bug,” she teases, pulling out of his embrace against her own will.

He pouts and all she wants to do is throw herself right back in his arms and kiss the life out of him if that’s what takes the pout away. That’s not her place though, so she takes a decisive step back.

“Why don’t you ever let me hug you?” he frowns, much like a young child does when they’re denied something they want.

“Because I love you!” she want to scream. “Because if I let you, I’d never want you to let go!”

Instead, she responds, “I’m not really a hugger.”

“Hugs are the best,” Niall says defiantly, crossing his arms over his chest.

“They’re alright,” she states.

“You have no heart.”

“Niall!” Nova yells, but ends up laughing halfway through.

“I’m simply stating a fact.”

“Shut up.”

It only takes one look at each other before they burst out in laughter. These are the moments she loves the most with him, when he makes her laugh so much that her stomach aches and tears blur her vision. He’s never failed to put a smile on her face on the worst of days. She loves him too much for her own good.

“So, I was thinking-”

Nova snorts, “Oh, you do that?”

“I’m not opposed to leaving you stranded.” She raise her hands in defeat, allowing him to continue speaking. “Anyway, I was thinking that today we could go out and play in the snow.”

Her eyes light up at the idea. “That would be sick! Please tell me there’s sleds somewhere here!”

His eyes are positively sparkling. “I’ve got four.”

She beams, “I love you.” If only he knew how true it is.

“Right back at ya, kid.”

She smiles at him before running to the stairs while yelling, “Meet you out back in ten!”

After changing into warmer clothes, which consists of leggings under jeans, a shirt under a thick sweater, a coat, gloves, scarf, beanie, and snowshoes, Nova feels ready for a trek through the thick snow. She knows she’s going to be soaking wet and freezing by the time they come in, but she’s almost positive that it’s going to be amazing.

She waddles her way outside, opening the patio door to get to the backyard. The snow is higher than she realized, and being pretty short, she already knows this is going to be a struggle.

When Niall catches sight of Nova awkwardly shuffling through the waist deep snow, he literally bends over, hands on his knees, and howls with laughter. She scowls at him as she tries to walk through the snow as smoothly as possible. It’s not working. “Niall,” she whines. “Please help.”

His laughter dies down, however, a few giggles still stream from his pale pink lips. “Alright, I’m coming.”

He makes a path through the snow with his own legs that will allow her to easily walk further back through the snow covered forest. “Thanks,” she replies breathlessly, when their paths finally meet. “Man, I’m surprised your chicken legs could get through all the snow!”

Niall immediately roars in laughter, the kind where you can’t breathe and just end up clapping while making no noise. This time, however, she cackles with him, his reaction making the joke all the more funny. He eventually just plops down in the snow, still laughing uncontrollably.

“Oh are your…” Nova pauses to chortle some more. “Your… chicken legs not able to hold you up anymore?”

Niall’s laughter soars through the air like magic, the sound wrapping around her snugly and making her feel warm despite the frigid air and mounds of snow surrounding her. She thinks that if she weren’t already in love with Niall, she would be now.

“Stop p-please,” he begs through his giggles, arm wrapping around his stomach.

“Okay, okay,” she chuckles, offering her hand to help him up.

“Now my arse is all wet,” he complains, patting at his bum with a frown.

“That was your own fault,” she informs him as they begin to walk farther through the pine trees.

“Technically it was yours,” he argues as he quickens his strides to catch up with Nova.

“Not my fault I’m funny.”

Niall deadpans, “Right.”

They continue to walk quietly, their friendly banter tapering off as they both take in the beautiful scenery around them. The snow shines in the sun, making the world seem much clearer. Icicles hang precariously off of tree branches, making the forest seem like it’s straight out of a movie. The perfect place to fall in love; if only it were the truth.

Niall stops her with a gloved hand on her arm and she looks up at him curiously. “Just over there,” Niall points to a space where the trees begin to separate into a clearing. “Is a hill that we can go sledding on.”

She grins gleefully and begins to walk in the direction he pointed at. Niall easily follows after her. “I’m so excited,” she gushes. “I haven’t gone sledding since I was like… nine.”

“I don’t think I have either,” he conveys. “I was kind of hoping we could go sledding when we were here though, if I’m honest.”

Nova laughs softly, breath fogging up as it leaves her parted lips. When they reach the top of the hill, she looks around in wonderment. The clearing is quite big, lots of space to sled without worrying about running into trees. “This is beautiful.”

“Yeah. It really is,” Niall murmurs softly.

She looks over at him to find his eyes already trained on her. However, he turns his head away quickly, and she’s not sure if the flush on his face is from the cold or embarrassment.

Nova can’t help but be confused. She’s spent the last six months convincing herself that Niall would never love her back. And of course, there’s been moments before when it felt like his gaze lingered too long or his eyes were too fond but every time, she chalked it down to nothing. She’s always hyper aware of where Niall is and what he’s doing, so she’s always assumed these moments were all in her head.

But now that she’s alone with him in the cabin, no buffers or distractions, she finds it harder and harder to come up with reasoning behind the odd actions. Her thoughts drift back to what Sophia said on the phone. “I think you’d be surprised about the amount of times I’ve seen him looking at you when he thought no one else would notice.” This wasn’t the first time one of the girls have said something like this. But each time they had, she ignored it, assuming it was wishful thinking on their part. Now, she’s not so sure. Could they be right? Could Niall really have feelings for her?

“So… sledding?” she asks, not able to think about this any longer. She just wants to forget and have fun, and what better way to do it than revert back to their childhood?

“Sledding,” he confirms. He hands Nova one of the sleds and they both position themselves at the top of the hill. “Last one down has to pull the other back to the cabin!” he yells, before pushing off with his feet and soaring down the hill.

Her eyes widen as she quickly does the same, yelling, “Hey! That’s not fair! You had a head start!” Even through the whooshing of the wind in her ears, Niall’s happy laughter is all she can hear.

By the time she reaches the bottom of the hill, she’s laughing along breathlessly and grinning from ear to ear. She slowly skids to a stop beside Niall, who has laid down in the sled, eyes clenched shut against the sun as he giggles.

He’s so beautiful, with his hair covered in a light dusting of snow and his cheeks and ears rosy from the air. Nova wants nothing more than to warm him with her lips. Instead, she say, “I’m not pulling you back to the cabin, by the way.”

His giggles slow as he looks at her. His eyes widen innocently. “How about we take turns?”

“You’re insufferable,” she sighs, getting up to walk back to the top of the hill.

“Wait,” he laughs, “Wait, I’m coming!”

She stops walking and waits for him to catch up before they trek to the top of the hill together. When they reach the top, they both sit in their sleds and prepare to slide down the hill. “On three,” she says with a smirk and a knowing look in his direction. He joins her to chant, “One… two… three!”

They push off with their hands and feet, flying down the slippery surface at a rapid pace, the wind bringing tears to their eyes. The world blurs around them, but somehow all Nova can see is Niall next to her, all blue eyes and red cheeks, as he cackles and yells in delight. She has never had so much fun in her life.

Breathless, the two of them stop halfway across the clearing. Without a word, they stumble up and half run, half climb back up the hill, limbs weak with amusement.

She doesn’t know how long they sled, but all she knows is that the skin underneath her clothing is wet and she feels like a child again. She loves that she can do things like this with Niall. He can make her less serious and loosen up; he can make Nova do things that are so ridiculous and embarrassing but end up being the time of her life.

She watches on fondly as Niall skids down the slope, whooping as he does. She rolls her eyes but a soft smile is set on her lips. She’s in love with an idiot, but somehow that makes it much more fun.

Nova is lost in her thoughts while looking off at the dense patch of trees to the right of her when she feels something hit her arm with force. Her mouth gapes open as she slowly turns to look at Niall, who has the smuggest grin on his face. His left hand cups a ball of snow.

“You’re gonna pay for that!” Nova yells out, already backing towards the trees for cover.

He only grins and throws the next snowball at her, but she begin to run, hoping that it’ll miss her. Of course, in the snow depth, her run is more like a brisk shuffle but hey, the boots on her feet are really heavy.

More snowballs are pelted at her, with much more accuracy. Niall is obviously coming closer. Frantically, she creates a snowball in her hand and chucks it at him, hitting him straight in the chest. He laughs and pretends that she shot him, clutching his wounded pec with a fake sob. Her laugh rings loudly through the air and bounces off the trees, carrying it away slowly. Niall looks pleased at his joke but quickly gets back to business. He tries to throw more snowballs at her as she attempts to run in the direction of the cabin. Nova feels herself slip on a partially icy patch and it’s like it all happens in slow motion. She loses control of her feet as they’re taken out from under her. She hits the ground with a dull thump, the thick, icy layer on top of the snow sends shooting pricks of pain up her side. Nova’s body propels sideways, beginning to roll down the hill at a sickening pace. Snow scratches at her face as she continues to roll, unable to catch herself at the speed she’s going at.

She can barely hear Niall’s shriek of, “Nova!” half concerned, half amused like he’s not sure if she’s actually hurt or going to just laugh it off. Nova herself isn’t sure if she wants to laugh or cry. Suddenly, she collides with something hard and immediately, she knows its Niall. He lets out a loud huff as he falls- right on top of her. Well, at least she stopped rolling. Although now that she has, she feels the soreness in both sides of her chest and face.

Niall’s body is warm atop her own, enough that she can easily ignore the cold seeping through her clothes and the pain in her sides. He pulls his face out of where it ended in her neck, concern pulling his lips downwards. She didn’t realize how close they were until now, but she can easily see the green flecks in his eyes that aren’t always noticeable and the eyelashes that swoop gently when he blinks down at her. Niall doesn’t seem bothered by the closeness as he makes no move to pull away.

“Are you okay?” he asks, voice soft and intimate, hands resting on the ground next to her head. When she doesn’t respond immediately, Niall says, “Novs?” with more concerning coloring the question.

“I’m… alright,” she murmurs back. She watches in awe as his eyes flick down before looking back into her own eyes. Was he… looking at her lips?

The moment feels heavy and too quiet, like the entire world has hushed in suspense. She can feel Niall’s breath on her lips, so close, yet so far. His eyes are heavy lidded and a dull spark shoots through her veins when she realizes that he’s going to kiss her. His eyes flicker down and back up once more and she stays motionless, too afraid to ruin this. She’s letting him take the reins.

The sound of thick sheets of snow falling off a tree’s weak branch makes Niall’s eyes blink open wider like he’s waking up from a trance. He pulls away from Nova and disappointment radiates throughout her body, more painful than the ache in her side. Back to reality, she only wishes she could stay in the dream.

He climbs up, brushing snow off of himself before offering his hand to help her up. She hisses a bit as she stands, clutching her side to find the source of the pain as if she could stop it. Nova knows she’s going to have a bruise tomorrow.

Niall’s eyes are wide, fearfully looking at her. “You okay, love?”

“Yeah, I… My side just hurts a bit.” And my heart, she thinks. When the look of fear doesn’t leave his face, she murmurs. “I’m fine, seriously.” It’s a lie.

He nods his head, but he looks like he’s in pain himself, whether from the intimate moment they shared or her physical pain, Nova isn’t sure.

“I think it’s time to go back,” he says, grabbing a hold of the strings attached to the sleds and wrapping a supportive arm around her back.

She simply nods her head in agreement and tries to make sense of what happened as they tread back to the cabin. Every part of her wants to believe that he was going to kiss her but he could’ve just been caught up in the moment. Maybe he just misses the physical connection that comes with a relationship. Maybe he just wanted someone to kiss and she was easily available. It probably meant nothing. God, Nova needs the girls more than ever now.

The entire walk back is quiet and almost awkward. The air feels dense and although Niall’s arm is still around her back, it feels as if they’re miles apart. She doesn’t like feeling this disconnected from him, but then again, she’s been feeling that a lot more lately. She just needs to get a grip on the situation.

The cabin comes into view and Nova has never felt happier. She needs to get out of her clothes, because halfway through the walk back, she began to shiver. All she wants is a warm shower and comfy clothes.

“I’m going to go put these away,” Niall mutters, holding up the sleds. “You should go change, babe, you’re freezing.”

Nova nods her head and with a soft, “Okay,” she walks towards the back door. She leaves her snowy shoes outside and walks into the warmth of the cabin, going into the entryway to hang up her coat. Then, she trudges up the stairs to her room, wincing at the pain that shoots up her legs. Going into the bathroom, she pulls off her soaked clothes and lays them on the counter to deal with later. She ties up her hair messily and starts the shower, making sure the water is hot before stepping in. She stares at the marble wall with empty eyes, decaying butterflies flying through her stomach, like they’re losing their fight. Her head replays the scene outside and she can’t stop thinking about the way he looked at her. She couldn’t have made that all up. Nova has never felt more confused in her life. She’s almost hopeful that he feels the same and that terrifies her. Hope leaves so much room for disappointment and Nova is tired of being disappointed. She doesn’t want to be wrong and leave this cabin with a broken heart that still yearns for his love.

After quickly washing her body, she steps out of the shower stall into the steamy bathroom, toweling herself dry. She looks in the large mirror and studies her side that she fell on that feels the most tender. A bruise is already beginning to form and she knows it’ll be sore for a couple of days. Ignoring it, she pulls on a pair of leggings and a white knit sweater, tugging her hair out of it’s bun and letting it fall loosely down her back.

Making her way back down the stairs, she hears the crackling of the fireplace. It comes into view not a minute later and she can’t wait to lounge by it for the evening. Nova finds Niall already sitting on the couch, dressed similarly to her. Two mugs sit on the coffee table, both blowing steam gently into the air.

He gives her a weak smile as she reaches the bottom of the steps. “I made us hot chocolate,” he says, gesturing to the cups.

She sits on the couch next to him, pulling her legs up underneath herself as she gets comfy. “Thank you,” she replies sincerely, picking up the mug closest to her and blowing gently on it.

Niall put a layer of marshmallows on the top with a candy cane sticking out of the side. He’s so cute and Nova almost cries with the need to hold him and beg for their relationship to go back to normal, go back to being easy. Today has been a roller coaster of emotions and she just needs easy.

“I… um,” the man beside her murmurs out as he plays with his fingers, not looking at her. “I’m sorry about… you falling. That was my fault. I feel terrible.”

Her eyebrows furrow, looking Niall over who looks uncharacteristically sheepish and small. “It’s okay…” she replies hesitantly, not sure what else to say. For some reason, it feels as if he’s apologizing for something else.

He looks up at her then, his eyes, normally a clear blue, are darkened by something she can’t understand. Guilt? Regret? “I really am sorry, though,” he repeats, this time looking her in the eye.

“It’s fine, Niall, it really is.”

He nods and grabs his own mug of hot cocoa and clutches it against himself, like he needs to physically stop himself from saying something more.

Nova wishes more than anything they could stop talking around each other, in metaphors and in confusing looks. But she’s just not brave enough to fix it herself.


	4. But Now I Know What My Heart Wants You to Bring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is a good one ;)

On their fourth day at the cabin, Nova and Niall decide to bear the trip into town to pick up some more food and call their friends. At this point, Nova is expecting them to not come, especially since it’s nearing the end of the trip, and for the first time, that doesn’t bother her. Spending this trip with Niall feels monumental and she’s almost positive she’s going to leave here knowing exactly how Niall feels towards her, whether that be good or bad. The mountain is crumbling and neither Niall nor Nova are trying to stop it from falling.

Niall parks his car outside the grocery store and calls Liam, putting it on speaker phone so she can listen in. The phone rings twice before Liam picks up. “Hey, Niall!”

“Hey, mate, you’re on speaker,” Niall responds, pushing his sunglasses up.

“Oh cool. What’s up, guys?”

Niall looks over at her and they share a look at Liam’s obliviousness. “Uh, we were wondering what’s going on in London. You guys coming up here?”

Liam heaves out a deep sigh, some shuffling on his end before he responds, “Mate, we all want to so badly. But London’s roads have been a mess and we’re all kind of scared to get out there.” After an awkward pause, he continues, “Plus, they’re calling for more snow tonight and tomorrow.”

“Bloody hell,” Niall says, running a hand through his quiffed hair. “So none ya are coming then?”

“‘Fraid not, Niall, I’m sorry. We’ll have to plan another time to go up. We were all so excited,” Liam sympathizes regretfully.

“Yeah, we’ll have to. Well, have fun stuck in your house all week, I guess,” the man beside her chuckles softly.

“Have fun at the cabin,” Liam cheers.

“We will. Bye Li.”

“Bye, guys.”

The line goes dead and they both sigh. “This sucks,” Nova mutters.

Niall frowns, “We can still have fun together, you know?”

“We can,” she agrees. “We need to have tons of fun to make them all jealous and then gloat about it once we’re back.”

Niall laughs, “Sounds like a plan to me.”

They high five quickly with similar chuckles, hopping out of the car afterwards and walking into the store. They had made a list of things they’ll need while they ate their breakfast so the shopping fiasco should go smoothly. By the time Nova and Niall make it to check out, their cart is full. As the cashier rings their things, she says, “Stocking up for the storm?”

Niall looks over at Nova in confusion. She can only shrug because she has no idea what the women is talking about. “What storm?” he asks.

“Oh,” the women looks shocked. “You didn’t hear?”

“Hear what?” Nova pipes in.

“They’re calling for blizzard conditions later today into tomorrow. They say we may be snowed in until Christmas Eve by the time all the snow has accumulated,” she informs them.

Neither Niall nor Nova say a word, too much in shock to reply. Until Christmas Eve? They are supposed to leave tomorrow so they can both go home for the holidays. What if they won’t be able to go home for Christmas? Nova has never not spent it with her family. The thought saddens her to the core and she knows Niall feels the same.

Their cashier looks worriedly between the pair. “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, loves.”

Niall recovers quicker than Nova and gives the women a grimace. “That’s alright.”

He pays for the bill, which they both agreed on after a long argument on it this morning, and they hastily collect their grocery bags and leave.

Both parties are silent as they load up the car and begin to drive away. Niall looks just as devastated as she feels. Neither of them bring up leaving, or not leaving tomorrow.

“I’m sorry, Novs,” he says, peeking at her quickly before returning his eyes to the road.

“It’s okay, Niall. It’s not like you’re doing this. Jack Frost is a dick.”

Niall laughs, obviously surprised by her joke. “I know but,” his face scrunches up, “It was my idea to come here in the first place.”

“I agreed,” she interrupts.

“I know but I just… I know Christmas is your favorite time of the year and you wanted to be home for the holidays and…” Niall frets, fingers rhythmically drumming against the steering wheel.

“So do you,” she argues gently. She taps his hand that rests on the gearshift. “It’s okay.”

He looks at her regretfully, car slowing down a bit. He looks like he’s contemplating something. All of a sudden, he pulls onto a random dirt road and turns around, going back in the direction of town.

“Niall?” Nova asks incredulously. “What are you doing?”

“We just need to pick up a few more things,” he replies with a smirk before accelerating.

/////

“This is ridiculous,” she informs Niall an hour later, watching as he unloads the last bag from the car with her hands on her hips.

He turns to look at her, grin on his face. “No it’s not.” He shuts the garage and they make their way to the front door. “You have to admit, it’s bloody brilliant.” He flashes his perfectly white teeth at Nova, before unlocking the door and allowing her into the cabin first.

And the annoying thing is, Niall’s idea is bloody brilliant. And she kind of loves him more for it.

The trip back into town consisted of buying Christmas lights, tinsel, ornaments, and garland. Niall decided because they may miss Christmas, they might as well deck the cabin out for the holiday.

And the thing is, Nova knows the decorating part of the holidays doesn’t really mean too much to him, considering she basically did all of his Christmas decorating at his home back in London this year, so he did it all for her. The thought alone makes her heart swell two sizes too big.

And although she pretended to be annoyed about Niall piling all those things in their shopping cart, she thinks he knew how delighted she was. She assumes that is why when the food is all put away in the fridge and pantry, he insists of starting decorating immediately.

“Wait,” Nova stops him from emptying the contents of all the bags on the couch. “We should watch Christmas films while we decorate.” She knows her eyes are sparkling but she can’t help it; Christmas is her favorite time of year.

“Do we have any Christmas films?” Niall asks with a quirk of his eyebrow.

“I brought all the ones I own,” she admits proudly.

He laughs loudly, shaking his head fondly at her. “Alright, go get them, love. I’m going to head down to the basement and look for that tree I think is down there.”

When they were at the store, as Nova was helping Niall decide the theme of ornaments for the tree, she wondered what they were going to hang them on, considering the small store had no fake trees and the tree farm wasn’t open.

“There’s one in the basement back at the cabin,” Niall had said, grinning proudly. “My parents used to bring some stuff up there to store so we wouldn’t have to at our house. I’m almost positive there’s one there,” he had explained.

“You won’t need help?” she asks, her thoughts returning to the present.

“I’ll be fine, kid,” Niall heads for the basement with a roll of his eyes. Shrugging, she wanders up the stairs, grabbing her pile of Christmas movies. Once in the living room again, she puts Elf on and begins to take things out of their boxes and wrappers. Just as she’s untangling lights, she hears Niall huff as he gets to the top of the stairs. Nova turns in time to see just a sliver of Niall behind a fairly large tree. She lets out a low whistle. “Impressive,” she murmurs.

“I know,” he groans as he positions it in the corner of the room, next to the large window. “Is it okay here?” he asks, his forehead creased, sweat glistening on his hairline.

“Hm,” she pretends to ponder, tilting her head to the side. “Might need to go a bit to the left.”

Niall’s eyes widen and he frowns, clearly unhappy about her wanting to move it.

She giggles, unable to keep up the act any longer. He looks at her questioningly. “I’m just kidding,” she exhales on a laugh with a shake of her head.

He looks instantly relieved, shoulder slumping as he relaxes. “Thank god.”

“Don’t get too comfy, you’re gonna need to get up in about half a second,” she chuckles, as she watches Niall flop his body carelessly onto the chair.

“Fine,” he pouts, sitting back up. “What shall I do?”

“I was thinking you could help me put the lights on?”

“Sounds good to me.”

They quietly help each other string the white lights on the tree, Niall taking over the top portion while Nova gets the lower half. The task comes with advice and gentle bickering and it feels too much like they are a married couple decorating their house for the holidays. The thought makes her seize up on the inside, but she pushes it away, wanting to appreciate what she has right now, instead of what she doesn’t and may never have.

After a good fifteen minutes of this, they both step away from the tree and take it in, looking for any imperfections and gaps. “Looks good to me,” Niall murmurs next to her, nudging his arm against hers.

She agrees, “Looks great. Now we just need to decorate it.”

Nova and Niall get to work. With Elf playing on the TV, making the two of them laugh and repeat quotes every once and awhile, they dress up the tree with the ornaments. They both decided on a classic Christmas theme, consisting of red, green, silver, and gold baubles. Of course, they have to finish it off with a sprinkle of tinsel all over the tree because that’s always been Nova’s favorite part.

Once the finishing touches are on, Nova and Niall both step back to admire their work. She takes out her phone and snaps pictures of it, wanting to remember this day, wanting to remember this trip, no matter the outcome. “I think we did pretty well,” he hums next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

“I think so too,” she replies, leaning into his touch.

“We make a dream team,” Niall says, wolfish grin spread across his face.

“We do,” Nova concurs, raising her hand up for a high five, which he returns back with too much enthusiasm. “Ow,” she complains, rubbing at her stinging palm. He laughs like the boy he is and she just rolls her eyes. Typical goofy Niall. They fall into silence again and Nova feels compelled to tell him how much she loves what he did for her. Letting his generosity go without notice is a crime.

“I love having this here,” she shares softly. “The Christmas tree, that is. It makes it feel more like the holidays.”

“I know,” he agrees.

“I mean,” she pauses to shake her head and pull out of his embrace to look him in the eyes. “Thank you for going through all this trouble for me. It’s… really sweet of you and I just want you to know that I appreciate it. I appreciate you.”

Niall maintains eye contact, but he looks a bit shy under her praise. “Of course,” he accepts. “I feel like the possibility of us being trapped here all alone until Christmas Eve is mostly my fault anyway, so…”

“Maybe it’s not a bad thing,” she whispers.

“Maybe it’s not.” The look they share is intense and the air around them is heavy, but in the best possible way, like a thick blanket wrapped around you in the early morning.

Suddenly, on the TV, Buddy yells, “He’s an angry elf!” And then the moment is broken. They both laugh however, shaking it off, just like they’ve done with all the other intense conversations they’ve had. Nova and Niall are ignoring them like they’re the plague; it seems to be the only thing they’re good at.

The two of them set out to decorate the rest of the downstairs, Niall off to wrap garland around the banister of the stairs and Nova to decorate the mantle with lights and some garland of her own. She simply lays it across the mantelpiece, interweaving the garland and lights delicately and leaving the glass deer and Christmas candle where they are. After she’s finished with that task, she goes to the kitchen and makes two cups of hot chocolate, going all out with marshmallows, candy canes, whipped cream, and chocolate drizzle. She carries them both back into the living room, setting one on the side table and taking hers to take pictures of it in front of the tree. Just as she took her last picture, she hears Niall moan behind her. She turns around in confusion, giving Niall a weird look when she see the heart eyes he makes towards her hot chocolate.

“Please tell me you made me one,” he begs, walking the rest of the way down the stairs.

Nova nods her head to the side table. “Yours is over there.”

“Yes!” he squeals, running over to it and settling on the end of the couch next to it. “Thanks babe, you’re the best.”

“You got it,” she giggles. She switches films since Elf is now over, and puts in The Santa Clause. She settles on the chair to the right of Niall, getting comfortable and laying the dark brown throw over her legs. They’re both quiet as the movie begins, both too invested in drinking their hot chocolate than speaking. The atmosphere is so cozy with the fireplace crackling faintly, fairy lights twinkling just above it. Nova never wants to leave this place, she want to stay here forever with Niall, enclosed in their own universe, where she can pretend they’re dating, where they can be domestic. Maybe it’s not healthy, but at this point, she’ll take whatever she can get and run with it. 

She feels her body begin to completely relax into the cushions, snuggling more into her blanket, and clutching her mug to her chest. The movie goes on and her mug of hot cocoa gets drained, as does Niall’s. The room is quiet, but not uncomfortable like many of the silences have been lately. It’s so comforting, in a way she only imagined ever came from people who were around each other a lot.

Though, the silence is soon broken by Niall, who murmurs, “Nova, look.”

She turns her head to look at him in confusion, but he only points towards the window. She looks in that direction and sees that it’s snowing again, like the women said it would be. Fat snowflakes fall down at a consistently fast rate, and she knows by morning there’s going to be a couple more feet of snow. They may actually be snowed in until Christmas Eve. The idea doesn’t hurt as much as it did this afternoon.

She glimpses back at Niall to find him already staring at her. “It’ll be okay, right?”

“I reckon so.”

She nods and settles back in her chair. For some reason, his reassurance actually does something to quell the sadness she feel about missing the twenty-fourth with her family. As long as she’s got Niall, she thinks she’ll be okay.

Once this movie is over, it’s replaced by another, and then another. They finally call it quits around 11:30, both of them too sleepy to stay up any longer. After saying their good nights, they separate into their rooms with quiet clicks of the door. Nova is asleep within minutes of her head hitting the pillow.

/////

When Nova wakes up, the first thing that she notices is that she’s cold.

No matter how much she burrows under her covers, she can’t seem to warm up. Her skin is covered in goosebumps and her chin rattles her teeth together. Maybe she should have lit a fire in the fireplace before she went to bed.

The next thing that she notices is that it’s 3:30 in the morning.

She rubs at her eyes sleepily as she sits up in bed, grabbing her glasses off the nightstand and putting them on her face. She knows further sleep is futile until she gets warm, so she steps out of bed, legs erupting in more goosebumps as they’re exposed to cold air. It makes her frown in confusion because the whole three days they’ve been at the cabin, it’s never been this cold. Then again, she’s never been awake at 3:30 in the morning before, so what does she know?

She grabs a pair of fleece pajama pants and replaces them for the shorts she went to bed in. Then, she grabs the thickest blanket on her rumpled bed and wraps it around her shoulders tightly. On second thought, she grabs her phone before quietly opening her bedroom door. As she walks softly down the hallway as not to disturb Niall’s slumber, she can feel the chill of the hardwood floor even through her fuzzy socks. In her foggy, sleep ridden brain, she wonders if there’s something wrong.

Nova pads down the stairs and turns on the light for the living room so she isn’t engulfed in the darkness anymore. She walks towards the kitchen to the thermostat so she can turn up the heat. Except when she gets to it, she finds the screen to be dark. She presses the button to turn it on, wondering if the screen goes dark when it’s not in use. But nothing happens. The screen stays black, the cabin stays frigid. Even though she knows there’s no use, she presses a few more buttons, just to see if anything will work. But alas, there is nothing.

She takes a deep breath in through her nose and the air burns her nostrils, like it does when you’re on top of a mountain on a wintery day. The way she sees it, she has three options: wake up Niall and tell him what’s going on, go back to bed and deal with the problem in the morning, or go and try to see what the problem is for herself. Nova laughs at the last two because it’s way too cold to sleep and she has no idea how furnaces work. So, her only option is to wake up Niall and hope to god he has a solution because she sure doesn’t.

Leaving the light on downstairs, she traipses back up the stairs. She hovers in front of Niall’s door, because as much as she knows whatever’s going on isn’t her fault, she still feels bad about having to wake him up. Nova slowly opens his door as quietly as possible; even though she is going to rouse him, she doesn’t want to do so rudely. She tiptoes into his room as her eyes adjust to the darkness. The only light in his room is the faint yellow shine of the nightlight in the bathroom that is identical to the one in her own. She can make out his sleeping figure on the bed, laying on his side with his duvet pulled up to his neck. She steps close to his bed and whispers, “Niall!” There is no response from him. She mutters expletives under her breath and tries again. “Niall! Wake up!” Again, no response. She sighs and murmurs his name one more time as she gently shakes his shoulder. This seems to work as he startles awake, his blue eyes popping open.

“You okay, Nov?” he asks, looking concerned as he sits up in bed.

“I’m fine,” she whispers, feeling weird about breaking the quiet atmosphere. “But I think there’s a problem with the heater…”

She watches as his face contorts in confusion but then recognition replaces it. “You know, it is bloody freezing in here.”

Nodding her head, she informs, “I woke up and I was cold so I went downstairs to turn up the heat but I think that the thermostat isn’t working. I feel bad about waking you up but I don’t really know what to do.” She watches as he swings his legs out of bed and rises to his full height.

“Don’t feel bad. I’m glad you did.” Niall grabs his own blanket and wraps it around himself as he trails out of his room, Nova following close behind. He goes to the thermostat and like she did, he presses a couple of buttons first. When nothing works, he sighs. “I’m going to try and change the batteries and see if that fixes it.” Just as quickly as he’s gone, he’s back with batteries and a screwdriver.

They are hushed as he makes quick work of replacing the batteries. Nova and Niall tense up in anticipation as he presses the on button. Nothing happens. “Shit,” he groans, mumbling a number of other curses. He runs his fingers through his hair and scrubs them down his face at his scruff in distress. “If we had internet access right now, I would be googling what to do if your heater stops working,” he says, laughing with little amusement. “But that’s not an option. And I would go look at the furnace, but let’s be honest- I have no idea how those work and I don’t want to make it any worse. And if there wasn’t a bloody blizzard going on outside, I would drive us somewhere warm that we could spend the night.” Niall stops rambling and looks at her regretfully. “I’m so sorry, Novs.”

She shrugs. “It sucks but it’s not your fault. Really, don’t worry about it, Niall.”

“But it really is cold in here.”

She shrugs again. “There was a time people survived living in caves and thin tents outside during harsh winters. I think we can survive one night, yeah?”

“Yeah,” he sighs. He looks thoughtful for a second before he claps his hands together gently in what appears to be a plan. “Right, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to start the fire in the living room and then go look for some kerosene heaters in the basement. Do you think you could grab all the blankets you can? And some pillows? We might as well make camp down here; I don’t foresee either of us getting much sleep.”

“Sounds like a plan,” she mock salutes as she makes her way to the stairs. She hears his soft chuckle behind her that makes Nova smile to herself. For some reason, getting Niall to laugh always feels like a major accomplishment, even though it seems he’s always laughing.

She heads to her room first, grabbing all the separate blankets and then pulling the duvet and sheets off the bed. She figures they’re going to need all the layers they can get to try and keep warm. She deposits those on the couch downstairs before going back up to Niall’s room and repeating the whole process again. Once she comes back up again, she just gets the throws that lay across the beds in the unused rooms, bringing those to the living room too. She sees in the short time she was upstairs, Niall has started the fire and brought up two kerosene heaters. On her last trip up, she grabs the pillows their rooms. When she arrives back in the living room, Niall is there, turning on four different heaters that he spreads all around the downstairs. As he does that, she sets up the pillows on either side of the enormous couch, laying and overlapping the blankets in between them. And when Niall adds more kindle to the fire, she turns on the lights on the Christmas tree, as well as the lights on the mantel.

Nova slips under the covers on the left end of the couch where she put her pillows. She snuggles gratefully under the thick stack of covers, watching as Niall flips off the overhead light and crawls on the couch across from her. Neither of them say a word as they try to warm up, cold from the amount of time spent in the open air. She assumes the heater hasn’t been working for a couple of hours because it feels like the cold seeped through the thick walls completely.

Shivers run down her spine and she tries to control them, knowing she’ll warm up quicker that way. Niall presses his legs against hers and she gives him an obliged smile but looks away right after. She watches the fire burn the logs, welcoming its destruction if it brings warmth to her icy body.

Without any preamble, and seemingly out of the blue, Niall asks, “Do you ever wonder if there’s someone you’re meant to be with, just wondering about the earth unknowingly?” His voice barely breaches the quiet.

Nova turns to look at him questioningly, wondering what brought this up. She gets no indication from looking at his face, however; she can only see his profile as he’s looking at the fire.

“Always,” she murmurs back just as faintly. “Why?”

Instead of answering her question, he asks, “Do you believe in soulmates?’

She shuffles her feet under the covers and tucks them against the back of the couch to warm them as she gathers her thoughts in response to the heavy question. “I’ve always wanted to. But having divorced parents and hardly knowing any couples that have willingly stayed together for a long time, it makes it hard to believe in them. I want to, though. I’ve always wanted that for myself, a soulmate.” She pauses to tilt her head back against the pillow to look at the ceiling. “I just don’t know if it’s going to happen,” she continues, much quieter, almost hoping he won’t hear.

A beat passes before he inquires in a low voice, “Why?”

She can merely shrug. How is she meant to tell him that she think he’s her soulmate, but he doesn’t love her, so of course she doesn’t think she’s going to get her soulmate? “It hasn’t happened yet, has it?” Lies, lies, lies.

He finally turns his head to look at her. His hair is messy and wispy atop his head from sleep. His gorgeous ocean blue eyes are droopy, like he’s tired but doesn’t want to give in to sleep. His lips look soft and all Nova wants is to know how they feel against her own, how they would be able to ignite her body in flames with just one brush. She wants to lay beside him, pressed up between his body and the couch with her head on his chest, tucked underneath his chin. She wants to feel his calloused hands on her back; she wants to feel his lips press against her forehead softly as they both fall asleep. She wants, she wants, she wants. But the most disappointing truth is that she can’t have any of it. Having him so close but just not the way she wants is the most masochistic thing Nova could have done to herself.

“You’re still young,” he whispers. “It could happen any day. You could meet your soulmate tomorrow.”

“You’re probably the only person I’m going to see tomorrow,” she points out without even thinking. Her body freezes up as she comes to the realization of what he said. Was he just trying to make a point or was he actually suggesting something else? She decides against the latter, knowing they’re both tired from waking up at 3:30 in the morning, he probably didn’t mean anything by it. Her luck isn’t that good.

“What about you?” Nova asks, before he can comment on what she said. “Do you believe in soulmates?”

“I didn’t before. But I do now.”

His voice seems oddly intense and rigid, so unlike his normal carefree and bright demeanor. She looks at him, watching as the glow of the fire reflects beautifully across his face, creating shadows beneath his eyes. It makes him look older in a way, like someone who has seen the coldness of the world, like someone who has been through a lot and has learned how hard life can be. It’s almost strange to see Niall like this; Nova has always admired his ability to be immature and have fun, even after the bad natures of his job. Now, it’s like she can see all his hardships in the thin line of his lips and the crinkles on his forehead. It makes her uneasy.

“Wow,” she murmurs. “Who changed your mind?”

“You.”

Nova’s eyes bug out of her head as she looks at his face, waiting for him to giggle and say that he’s kidding. But it doesn’t happen. He looks extremely serious, his eyes never breaking contact with hers. She tries to read them, but all she can see is the open sea and for some reason, Nova feels like he’s hiding from her. And she hates it, because if he’s implying what she thinks he is, she needs to know he’s sure before she makes herself vulnerable. This trip has already put a chip in her armor; she can’t afford any more. She keeps hearing his gruff voice in her head saying, “You.” It sends shivers down her spine, but this time, it’s the good kind. Just one word can crumble the walls she’s spent a year putting up.

Nova fish mouths unattractively, her brain spinning and her heart racing painfully. He doesn’t crack a smile. His face stays strangely stoic.

“Me?” she asks incredulously, her voice squeaking embarrassingly. “What have I said?” It must be something she’s said, she’s sure of it. Nova shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions so quickly, he could have meant anything by that. She is a hopeless romantic, after all. She must have just inspired him to believe in soulmates. Even so, she can’t get her hands to stop trembling anxiously or her heart to beat more slowly.

He does smile now, but it doesn’t feel real. It’s tense and heavy and butterflies that are now full of life wreak havoc in her stomach. “It’s nothing you’ve said. It’s just you.”

“Niall… I don’t…”

Niall sits up on the couch, like he has to physically prepare himself for what he’s about to say. He shakes his head, his eyes look sad, smile on his lips turning down more at the corners. Nova hates it. She wants it to end, even if she doesn’t really know what that entails. He gives a self-deprecating laugh as he breaks eye contact, before looking back into her eyes. “Do you even know how much I love you, Nova? Do you know how much I’m in love with you?”

Her breath hitches painfully in her throat, and she swears that her heart stops beating. She tries to make sense of the situation, but she can’t. She doesn’t understand. Her mind is working in overdrive and she’s almost positive she’s in a dream.

“I’ve been in love with you for the past year and… I’m sorry if you don’t feel the same. But I can’t keep it from you anymore. I don’t ever want to lie to you and that’s all I’ve been doing lately.” He lets out a mocking laugh and when she stays silent in shock, he continues, “There’s been times that I thought you might feel the same, but I’ve probably made them all up in my lovesick head.” He looks down at his lap and his laugh is so bitter and sad. She doesn’t know that could come out of him and she detests it. She doesn’t want Niall to feel that way, ever, especially about her. The one thing he shouldn’t doubt is her, and now she just needs to tell him.

Yet, Nova can’t get any words out of her mouth, can only stare at him in bewilderment. Something she’s wanted so badly is so close now, she can touch it. She can only hope it isn’t pulled away just as she’s about to reach for it.

“Please,” Niall begs, sounding so broken. “Just say something. I don’t care if you don’t love me back. Just say something.”

It breaks her out of her trance, the way his voice cracks like she actually matters to him. He’s not just lonely, he’s not just searching for a relationship. He wants her and while she has a hard time comprehending that, she will try to do her best for him. “I do,” she says, sitting up to bring herself closer to him, just not close enough. “I love you, too.”

He looks into her eyes, like he’s searching for answers that didn’t come out of her mouth. “You do? You’re not just saying that?”

“I wouldn’t lie to you about that,” Nova replies gravely, unable to break eye contact with him.

A slow grin spreads across his face like melted butter on toast. It starts small but takes over his entire face, eyes crinkling delicately and cheeks dimpling with the force. He is absolutely breathtaking. She’s overcome with relief that he might be hers. “Really?” he asks, although he looks quite convinced now.

“Really, really,” she says, grinning at him just as widely.

Nova feels as if she’s in a delusion created by her exhausted brain but the way her heart races makes it all feel real. If it is all made up, she hopes to never wake up. Nova is not letting this slip away. Now that she’s got a taste, she doesn’t know if she could ever live without it.

“How long?” he asks softly, reaching for her hand beneath the covers. His much larger, stronger hand holds hers gently, his thumb stroking over the surface. The simple touch makes her face warm.

With a start, she realizes she’s no longer cold. She knows without much thought that it has everything to do with Niall and perhaps nothing to do with the thousands of blankets that have wilted to her lap. “For a long time. Maybe as long as I knew you,” Nova muses with a smile. “But definitely since last summer.”

“Jesus,” he says. “We really are a pair of idiots, aren’t we?”

“I guess so,” she laughs along tenderly.

“You’re beautiful,” he states randomly, looking at her face as he says it.

A blush spreads across her cheeks and she hopes it’s dark enough to conceal it. She doesn’t meet his gaze as she mutters, “I’m a mess.” Which she is. She has no makeup on, her face covered with red spots from old pimples that left scars. Her under eyes make it seem like she hasn’t slept in years and her hair is in unruly curls around her face. How can he sit here and say that she’s beautiful? How can he look at her like he means it?

He shakes his head, the smile on his lips so, so soft, she honestly can’t believe she’s never noticed it before. “You’re beautiful,” he repeats firmly.

Somehow, he makes her believe him that easily.

“So are you, you know. Everyone… everyone wants you,” Nova comments, eyes fluttering at the way his thumb continues to drag across the top of her hand.

“I don’t care about everyone. I only care about you.”

His honestly makes her stutter out a breath, her heart beating quicker, if that’s even possible. She may die just from the incredible adrenaline rush she’s getting. He’s turning her into a right blushing mess, but she kind of loves it. Nova has always wanted someone who could make her feel like that.

“I really want to kiss you right now,” he confesses, letting go of her hand to pull his out from under the blankets.

She licks at her lips and his eyes track the movement before flicking back up. “No one is stopping you,” she breathes out.

He’s leaning closer before Nova finishes her sentence, bringing his hand to rest on her cheek. His palm feels warm against her skin and her eyes involuntarily flutter shut. She can feel his breath breach her lips and her stomach curls deliciously in anticipation. Then, his lips touch hers and Nova may not see fireworks exploding behind her closed eyelids but it’s pretty close. She sees white fairy lights twinkling, blinking languidly like the way Niall’s lips brush her own, in no hurry to do anything but kiss.

After imagining this moment for so many months, nothing compares to the reality. His lips are warm and smooth as they brush against her own. He kisses so tenderly, like he’s genuinely trying to cherish her and it makes Nova’s chest feel like it’s going to implode. Too soon, he pulls away, knocking his forehead against her own, palm still resting on her cheek.

“Nova,” he breathes out, thumb rubbing the skin of her cheek. “My nova.”

She sighs and leans up to press their lips together for one more lingering touch. Her lips tingle when they pull away.

“I was wrong about you,” he whispers against her skin.

Her eyebrows furrow but she doesn’t pull away from him. “About what?”

“You’re not a nova. You’re a supernova. My supernova.” He lets out a soft laugh and brushes their lips together again. “My supernova that bursts into beautiful flames and brings so much light from a catastrophic event.”

She shakes her head, leaning into his touch. “I wasn’t a supernova. But I am now. This, this right here is the catastrophic event.”

Niall laughs loudly, his warm palm on her cheek sliding down to her neck. “I love you. Maybe it’s too soon to say that, but I do. I love you.” Niall’s breath fans across her lips and she open her eyes to find his still shut, eyelids scrunched from laughter

“So do I. I love you.” At some point during their kiss, she pulled her own hand out from under the mound of blankets to rest on the back of his neck. Now, she ruffles the short hair there, scratching his scalp lightly with her fingertips.

“God, you don’t know how long I waited to hear those words come out of your mouth.” He pecks her lips again, the feeling sparking heat throughout her whole body.

“Believe me, I think I do.”

He pulls away, eyes blinking open lazily to find Nova’s already watching him. His smile is contagious and she’s helpless to the disease. He doesn’t say anything, just looks at her with a pleasant expression on his face. “I’m so happy,” he reveals.

“Me too,” she replies shyly, looking down from his intense gaze.

“It was so hard hiding it from you for so long. I’m honestly surprised you didn’t notice,” he laughs at himself.

She huffs out a giggle as well. “I’m surprised you didn’t notice. I felt like I was always too obvious.”

“The lads were convinced you wouldn’t turn me down if I said something, but I was too afraid,” Niall tells her seriously, leaning back against his pillows. “I’m not sure if that meant that they noticed, but they were pretty adamant.”

“They were right. I wouldn’t have,” she murmurs softly.

Niall snorts, “I know that now, petal.”

For some reason, his use of the pet name makes her swoon, even though he’s used it millions of other times. “We’re both pretty thick headed then, aren’t we?” she asks jokingly.

“I guess so. Did the girls say the same to you?” he yawns, his palm covering his mouth as he does. His attention never falters from Nova though and it makes her feel all warm and gooey on the inside, like chocolate chip cookies straight out of the oven. She’s not used to him unabashedly being affectionate towards her, but she’s not about to stop it.

She nods her head, while staying upright and pulling the blankets up over her shoulders. “Yeah, they were practically begging me to just tell you. I never did clearly. Too much of a wimp, I guess.”

“Hey,” Niall frowns. “That doesn’t make you a wimp. It’s a scary thing, declaring your love for someone. It’s not bad that you were afraid to do it. So was I.”

“I know,” Nova shakes her head, smiling down at her lap.

The man across from her laughs lightly, asking, “Why are you smiling?”

“‘M happy too.”

His grin is enough to brighten up the whole cabin, enough to power all of London, enough to keep the whole world running. She can’t believe how lucky she is.

She lies back against her pillows, snuggling back under her blankets, pulling them up to her chin. This time however, she tangles her legs with Niall’s, pressed together for comfort and warmth. He brushes his socked foot against her leg and leaves it there. They smile at each other from across the couch and to anyone else, they might look ridiculous, but neither of them can help it. They’re both so elated and they can only share that with the other.

Nova and Niall talk about anything and everything. They talk until the fire burns out and Niall has to get up to restart it. They talk until both of their eyes are burning from lack of sleep but unwilling to close. They talk until the sun starts to come up, living room lit up only by the twinkling Christmas lights and the pink and purple hues from the rising sun. They talk until the only thought in Nova’s head is, “I love you, I love you, I love you.” They talk until she falls asleep, legs pressed close to Niall’s and blankets entangled between.

In a cabin in a woods, as Nova loses reality to dreaming, she falls even deeper in love.


	5. So Please Just Fall in Love With Me This Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one's a longer one that you guys will definitely enjoy!

Nova wakes up slowly, her senses coming back one by one. She’s freezing, is one of the first things she recognizes, and with that, the late night’s events come back to her all at once. No heat. Niall. “I really want to kiss you right now.”

Her eyes pop open quickly, the bright light in the living room burning them. She stretches her legs out and when they don’t collide with Niall’s, she turns to look anxiously. The space across from her is empty. Her heart drops to her stomach. The sheets are rumpled, some of the blankets missing, so she can only assume that Niall has taken them with him, wherever he is. There has to be a reason he’s not still here, right? Her head spins with possibilities. What if Niall regrets what happened last night? What if he’s ashamed?

Nova tries not to be pessimistic, but she’d rather prepare for a broken heart than be blindsided. She pulls in a deep breath through her nose, rubbing her eyes. She remembers that she fell asleep with her glasses on but they aren’t on now. She frowns, looking at the table beside her head and sees them sitting there, folded up nicely, her phone beside it. Niall must have done it; she knows she didn’t take them off before she fell asleep. She hopes this is a good sign. She slips the frames on her face, the room coming in clearer. She grabs her phone to check the time, assuming it’s mid-morning based on the early hour they went to bed. Her phone reads 11:05 and she sighs softly upon seeing it. Both Niall and Nova only fell asleep around 6:30 and she wonders how long Niall’s been awake.

She knows she has to get up soon or Niall will come looking for her, but she’s nervous. She’s nervous that he’s going to say last night was a mistake. Nova isn’t worried about him being callous, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t still hurt. She slips her legs off the couch to rest on the freezing hardwood floor. Time to face the music.

She wraps two thick knitted blankets around her shoulders tightly as her body trembles coldly. Slowly, she walks into the kitchen, her feet dragging along as if they’re unwilling to bring her where her brain wants to go. She finds Niall there, standing in front of the stove. God, he is so beautiful. At some point, he must have replaced his long sleeved white shirt for a chunky grey hoodie, his black sweatpants and polka dotted socks the same as the night before. She has to remind herself that if this ends now at least she had last night. Although she’s not sure it would be easier after having such a small piece of something that could have been much bigger.

He turns around towards the fridge, eyes widening when he sees her. He clearly didn’t realize she was there. “Morning.” He punctuates it with a smile and Nova wants to see that every day, the smile makes her feel so light on the inside, like a beautiful, sunny day. She’s suddenly overcome with fear that she won’t even have the chance to make that wish come true.

“Morning,” she murmurs back. She shuffles a bit closer to him, leaning against the pantry, a safe distance away in case she needs to make a quick exit but close enough as to look casual.

“I’m making a fry up,” he says, still smiling, oblivious to her inner panic. “I know how much you like breakfast food and I woke up starving. We both slept in late so I figured it would be easier to just have brunch.”

Sometimes Nova is taken aback by how much Niall remembers that she’s only said fleetingly. Of course he would be sweet and made her a huge English breakfast, which she loves, just because. He’s perfect; Nova wants to keep him forever.

She doesn’t say anything but watches as he flips bacon in a pan. He turns to her like he’s about to say something, but stops. Then, he comments, “Babe, you’re shaking. C’mere.” He opens his arms and she can do nothing but fall into them, even though she’s afraid this is going to be the last time she’ll ever get to do this without breaking down. Even though Niall hasn’t said anything negative yet, she knows he’s too kind to bombard her with his regret.

Nova isn’t sure if she’s shaking from the cold or from nerves, or a combination of both. Thankfully, Niall just thinks she’s cold. Either way, she tucks her head comfortably under his chin and his palms rub up and down her back in attempt to warm her. Her shivers stop considerably and he hums, “There you go.”

She breathes in deeply, the greasy smell of bacon and sausage filling her nose. Unable to help herself, she blurts out, “Do you regret last night?”

Niall freezes, slowly pulling away to look at her. His face is solemn as he searches her own. This is it, when he tells her he didn’t mean what he said and he’s sorry, but he can’t do it. Nova is expecting the “yes” out of his mouth so much that she hardly realize when he lips form the opposite. “No,” he says firmly. She’s instantly flooded with relief and she feels herself slump against him as she relaxes. She was silly for thinking that he regretted everything, but she couldn’t help the dejected thoughts, it’s like default at this point. But she knows her insecurities have some truth; there’s always people who love Niall and she’s very aware of the insane pool of competition she’s up against. With that, it’s hard not to become unsure of herself. However, Nova knows she should trust Niall more because as she realized last night, he isn’t just some teenager looking for a meaningless relationship. He’s grown and mature and he seems quite aware of what he wants. And that’s Nova.

“Do you?” he asks, pulling her away from her thoughts.

She shakes her head immediately. “Not for a second.”

“Then why would you think I would?” he questions gently, eyes a bit sad like he knows what thoughts were going through her head. He’s able to read her so easily and it makes her feel strange, having someone who seems to know her as well as Niall does.

She shrugs, looking away. “People like you don’t really like people like me.”

His frown is stony as his eyebrows pull together. “That’s bullshit. You mean someone who is kind, intelligent, and beautiful? Everyone should love you.”

Nova shakes her head but she’s smiling now and she can’t stop it. “You’re ridiculous.”

“I’m being truthful.”

“I believe you,” she tells him.

“Do you?”

“For some stupid reason, I do.”

“Good,” he says, eyes intently searching her own. “I’m glad.” He lets go of her after pressing a lingering kiss to her forehead. “Don’t want to burn the bacon,” he explains remorsefully with a shrug.

Nova smiles gently, watching as he takes his place in front of the stove again. “Should I do anything?”

He gives her a grin, “Not really much left to do. I’ve already made eggs, toast is in the toaster now, and the bacon and sausage are almost done. You want to make us some tea?”

“I can do that.”

She sets off to make the tea while Niall finishes cooking breakfast. The kitchen is quiet, apart from the hissing noises of the bacon. It’s not uneasy however, unlike the other odd bouts of silence her and Niall have shared over the past few days. This time, the silence isn’t filled with unspoken words that neither of them could muster the strength to sound, but it is calming because all those words are floating in the air between them. They know where they stand, even if the logistics aren’t figured out yet. The silence is filled with the relief of the pining that they will no longer have to do. Nova feels completely at ease compared to the near panic state she was in just mere minutes ago. She relishes in the quiet because she feels safe right now, like her and Niall are standing on solid ground. After the past couple of days, it’s the most reassuring thing she could have ever asked for.

She takes a seat at the island as Niall dishes up the last of the sausage. He sits down next to her, announcing grandly, “Dig in!”

Nova doesn’t hesitate to do so, as she had begun to realize how hungry she really was. The pair fill their plates, sending each other dopey smiles whenever their hands brush. It happens so many times that Nova begins to think that he’s doing it on purpose. Knowing Niall, it wouldn’t come as a surprise. She suddenly feels like a teenager with her first boyfriend, who can’t keep his hands off her. She supposes that’s what love is supposed to make you feel like- young.

She watches in poorly concealed amusement as Niall inhales his food, clearly not lying when he said he was starving. After taking a couple of bites off of her own plate, she can’t help but want to ask about the problems that still linger, even if they aren’t major. “So, not to get really serious right now but… What are we going to do about the heater?” she questions, biting her lip as she watches Niall set down his fork.

“I was thinking we could go into town and see if there’s someone there who will come out here and look at it. Or at least someone who can tell me what to do,” he responds, scratching at his facial hair, like she knows he does when he is uncomfortable. That knowledge makes her suspicious, but she has a feeling she’ll find out why soon.

“But Niall… it snowed all night. Aren’t we snowed in?”

“Well…” he trails off, looking quite sheepish.

“What?”

“I shoveled the driveway, so no, we are not snowed in.”

“Niall!” Nova exclaims in disbelief, smacking his arm lightly, making his squawk. “You should have woken me up, you idiot! I would have helped you!”

“I know,” he murmurs with a smile. “But you hardly got any sleep and I would’ve felt bad waking you.”

“You didn’t either,” she counters immediately.

He shrugs. “It’s okay, I was already awake. I couldn’t fall back asleep so I figured I might as well.”

“Oh, why?” she questions, her brows furrowing.

His smile is somewhat embarrassed as he looks down at his plate. Nova thinks there might be a faint flush on his cheeks but she can’t tell for sure when he looks away. “Honestly? I was kind of too excited to wake up and kiss you again. Or just be with you, really.”

Her mouth gapes, heart pounding loudly against her chest. The butterflies are back and they make sure she knows they’re there. She cannot believe that she gets to have this, the person she wanted more than anything else, admitting things that she thought she would never hear. It feels so surreal. Nova feels giddy with love.

He looks back up at her and he definitely has red cheeks now. The sight is so endearing and she really want to kiss him. She’s not confident enough to take the lead, however, so she mumbles, “You can if you want.”

She knows she don’t need to clarify when she sees the brightness in Niall’s eyes. He leans closer, resting a hand above her knee to stabilize himself and another on her neck as he presses even closer. His lips hover over hers and he tilts his chin up, just barely brushing his lips against her own teasingly. She whines softly and that’s enough to make him press them firmly against hers. The kiss is gentle, much like last night, but more intently, like he really has been waiting hours for her to wake up and do this.

She barely have time to catch her breath when he pulls away before he rushes out, “I want to take you out on a date.”

“What?” she stutters out in surprise.

Niall’s eyes widen like he didn’t mean to say it like that. “I mean, if you would like, Novs, I really want to take you out on a date. Today.”

“Today?” she asks astounded.

“Um… if that’s okay.” Niall turns shy and it’s weird, feeling like she’s the one in power when she normally likes to fall behind and let others take charge.

“I would love to! I was just surprised,” she tells him earnestly, watching as he lights up once again. She decides that it’s her new favorite thing, making Niall’s eyes bright like that. “But isn’t everything going to be closed?”

He smiles, turning back to his food, replying, “I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure we didn’t get as much snow as they called for after all.”

“Oh? That’s good, yeah?” she asks, trying to gauge Niall’s opinion on it. Nova herself have mixed feelings. Just last night she was coming to terms with having to stay here until Christmas Eve, or even Christmas Day, but now that they might not be forced into that position, she almost don’t want to leave this paradise she and Niall have created here.

“It’s good because it means I can take you on a date,” he grins at her, mouth full of food. If anyone else did it, it would be gross, but for some reason, she’s only charmed.

As they continue to eat their food, Nova wonders what exactly Niall has planned for their date. By the looks of it, Niall has been thinking about this all morning, maybe while shoveling the ridiculous about of snow outside, so she’s anxious to see what it is. “Where are we going?” she asks, clarifying, “On our date, that is.”

He smirks at her, all secretive and she pouts. “You’ll have to wait and see, babe.”

“I don’t want to,” she whines.

He smacks a kiss to her cheek as he gets up to put his plate in the sink. “Too bad. Now finish eating and go get ready. We have a date to get to.”

/////

After a hot shower and a series of, “Are you almost done?” Nova and Niall have made it outside, bundled in coats and scarves. She managed to put on makeup and do her hair, much to Niall’s dismay. She’s dressed in simple ripped jeans, velvety green sweater, and black snow boots. Even with Niall’s impatience, she was not willing to go on her first date with him looking like a bum.

“You look gorgeous,” Niall murmurs with a smile, holding open the passenger door for her.

"See, this is what happens when you let me get ready," Nova informs him with a knowing look as she steps into the car, trying futilely to ignore the flush that settles quickly on her cheeks at the compliment.

"No," he shakes his head with a soft smile. "You always look beautiful." He stands in the open car door, blocking the frigid air from hitting her. She watches in awe as he looks at her and she feels a surge of gratefulness that she gets to experience this excitement and hopefulness that he makes her feel. After the year of constant yearning, she knows to cherish every kiss she receives and every look she finds herself blushing about.

Niall leans even further into the car to kiss her. It feels so natural, Niall being gentlemanly and kissing her whenever he pleases. It feels like she’s been doing this forever; Nova hopes that this does last forever. But if she’s honest, she’s not sure what’s going to happen once they’re away from the fantasy bubble being here has created. She just hopes that whatever this is is strong enough to survive everything it’s going to be put through.

"Well, thanks," she replies lamely, too hazy brained from their kiss and the sweet compliments he's showering her in. She loves him more than she should.

With a lasting smile, he shuts her door and goes around his car to the driver's side. "Better hold on," he shoots her a mischievous grin. "It might be a bumpy ride."

He pulls the car out of the driveway, the dirt road leading up to the cabin covered in snow. "Niall," she begins, worrying her lip. "Are you sure this is safe?"

"I'm about 70% sure," he jokes, reaching over to squeeze her hand reassuringly.

"Both hands on the wheel!” Nova screeches. It causes Niall to cackle loudly, the long drawn out giggles that never fail to make her lips quirk up, even when she’s convinced she might die. “Don't go killing me before we've even had our first date," she replies, watching anxiously as he drives through the snow.

He gasps jokingly, "I would never do such a thing!"

Thankfully, the dirt road is fairly short and after a painfully slow drive through thick snow, Niall is pulling onto a main road. Fortunately for them, the roads seem to be plowed and salted accordingly. They are a bit messy, and Niall has to take it slow, but they are much more manageable than they thought they would be. Then again, it shouldn't be too surprising because it is just after 1:00.

The drive feels short opposed to the other times they’ve gone into town. Maybe it's because everything is out in the open between the two of them and Nova knows for sure that her feelings are reciprocated. Or maybe it's just because Niall is someone she’s always been comfortable around and now she’s just not as stuck in her head as she has been the past few days. Either way, the feeling is so welcomed.

Nova and Niall joke like normal, but it's fonder in a way. They tease each other as they have before but now each comment is punctuated with soft touches or secret smiles. Nova loves it more than she thought she would, the typical teasing and loving relationship. The easy banter her and Niall have was one of the things that first attracted her to him and she’s so glad that hasn't gone away.

When they arrive in the heart of the small, charming town, Niall pulls over to a gas station to fill up and call his parents. He assumed the best way to solve the non-functioning furnace is to see who his parents have used before for this problem.

Nova sits quietly as Niall calls his dad, his phone connected to his car and on speaker for her to hear. "Hey, dad," Niall says, pushing his sunglasses up.

"Niall! What's up?" Bobby exclaims, delighted to hear from his son. Nova has a feeling that Niall makes everyone feel like that, with his bright spirit. She certainly feels the pull.

She leans back in her seat, watching as the hoard of texts come in on her phone as she absentmindedly listens to Niall's conversation.

"Well, we're having a bit of a problem at the cabin," he responds, leaning back in his own seat, messing with his shoes idly.

"Oh? What's wrong?" Bobby asks in genuine concern.

"The furnace stopped working in the middle of the night. I'm shit at fixing stuff so I haven't even really bothered to try to fix it myself," Niall explains with a gentle laugh, watching out the window as snow falls off bare tree branches that are too weak to hold it.

"Oh man, that's horrible! How did you guys survive there all night in the cold?"

Niall sends her a secretive smirk, Nova unable to do anything but grin back, both of them thinking of the way their legs had been glued together throughout the entire night. "Oh, don't worry pop, we managed." After muffling a laugh, he says, "So I was just wondering if you know anyone reliable that’s up here that I can get to come fix it."

"Yes, I do! I can send you their information if you want?" There's rustling on the other end and it's clear Niall's dad is searching for it.

"That'd be great, dad, thanks."

"I'll look for it and let you know! See you in a couple of days for Christmas?" Bobby asks.

"Yes, see you then. Love you, Bob."

Niall dad cackles at his use of his name, and the sound reminds her so much of Niall that she has to laugh along. "Love you too!"

The line disconnects and she watches as Niall pulls his phone out, tapping a few things before looking back at her. "What?" he inquires with a soft smile.

She shrugs, "Nothing." She turns to look out the window, lost in her thoughts. Niall soon gets out to put gas in the car when he realizes she’s not going to say anything. And the thing is, she wants to ask him if he wants to tell his parents about them or if he’ll go home for Christmas and not even mention it at all. Nova wants to know, because she wants to tell her family about him. She just wants to be sure she’s not reading the situation wrong, even though she’s sure she isn’t. She thought she did this morning and now she’s on her way to their date. Clearly her judgement can’t be trusted.

Niall climbs back in the car, shivering and breathing out a heavy breath. Nova watches silently as he puts his card and receipt into his wallet. “Do you want to tell your family?” she blurts out before she can talk herself out of it.

"What?"

"About us," she clarifies.

"Um," Niall looks properly taken aback, surprised by her unusual bluntness. "I mean obviously I really want to... but we haven't even really talked about it. I'd like to do that first."

"Me too," she reaffirms. 

Niall's phone buzzes before he can respond. "That's me dad," he explains. He reads the text silently for a second before smiling, setting his phone down, and starting the car. "I know exactly where we need to go. And luckily enough, it's on our way."

/////

After stopping briefly to talk to the plumber who promises to fix the furnace today, Niall pulls up in front of a quaint coffee shop, nestled in between a pizza parlor and a rundown book store. Nova turns to him in excitement, face glowing. When she meets his eyes, he looks amused, but so, so fond. Nova knows how lucky she is to have someone who knows her so well; to have someone who knows that going to a coffee shop would be an ideal date for her.

“Please tell me that’s where we’re going,” she grins, bouncing in her seat a bit.

“Yeah, of course. I’m taking you for pizza!”

The smile immediately drops from her face and she regards Niall with a miffed look. He bursts into laughter, bent over, slapping at his knees. Against her better judgement, a smile tugs on her lips.

“Damn it,” he complains. “Why do you never believe me when I do stuff like that?”

“Because you’re not a very good liar, Niall, and we all know that,” Nova replies drily.

He laughs, shaking his head as they hop out of the car. He meets her in front of the coffee shop, offering his hand for her to take. She does, but not without a blush. He seems to make her do that often. He leads Nova into the coffee shop, conveniently named Tea Stains. The minute she steps foot in the cafe, she knows this is the best place for their first date. It’s small and homely, the air thick with the smell of baked goods and coffee beans. The building is toasty in a way that makes her feel sleepy and content. The bar is in the far back of the room, rickety tables filling the space in front of it with mismatched couches and big arm chairs on the right. In the front of the store, there is a long wooden bar top that sits in front of the big window with scuffed wooden chairs beneath it.

There is hardly anyone else here, clearly no one wanted to risk the bad roads. The only people occupying the space besides Nova and Niall is the two men behind the counter and a woman sitting by herself, headphones in and eyes trained intently on her laptop.

“Where do you want to sit?” Niall murmurs quietly, letting go of her hand to rest on her lower back.

“Hmm,” she looks around the room, searching. “What about one of those tables by the fireplace?” she asks him.

He smirks at her, “That’s what I was thinking too.” He walks her there, his hand still resting warmly on Nova’s back. Once they reach the table, they shed their coats and gloves, resting them on the backs of the dark wooden chairs.

“I’m going to go grab us a menu, be right back.” Niall flashes her a smile before he walks off to grab a menu from the counter. She admires him as he goes, once again, getting a rush when she realizes that he’s her something. He loves her.

He’s dressed beautifully in dark blue skinny jeans, a patterned button up, with black snow boots on his feet. His brown hair is done up in his normal quiff, black glasses perched on his nose (that he doesn’t really need to see, the liar). His cheeks and nose are still a bit rosy from the chill outside. He looks like a dream.

He returns quickly, sitting himself across from Nova and handing her a menu. “There you go, love.”

“Thank you,” she murmurs, looking the menu over quietly.

It doesn’t take long for them to decide what to eat. When they do, Niall, ever the gentleman that he is, offers to order for Nova and pay for her food. With short argument that ends with Niall chuckling, “Petal, it’s fine. It’s our first date anyway. I’m not going to let you pay on our first date.” She huffs but can really only smile with the butterflies shooting off like rockets in her stomach. Their first date. She can’t believe that this is her reality.

When Niall returns once again to the table, Nova and Niall sit and talk quietly while they wait for their drinks to be done. Luckily, it doesn’t take more than a couple of minutes until the man behind the counter calls out the order quietly. Nova gets up to grab them before Niall can, knowing that he had every intent to. As she turns around to return to Niall, she feels scrutinized by his intense gaze. She’s not very used to having someone look at her like that, and she’s not sure if she ever will. The look in his eyes causes her to blush like mad and watch the floor as she approaches.

“Have I told you that you look beautiful yet today?” he asks gently, accepting his gray mug from her hand.

“You have,” she murmurs shyly, tucking her hair behind her ear out of habit as she avoids his gaze. “However, I don’t think I’ve told you yet. You look amazing,” Nova compliments, looking up to gauge his reaction.

His smile widens, his hand twitching on the table like he wants to grab hers but is still too unsure of how much touching he can do. His cheeks rose a bit and she gets pleasure out of knowing she can make him blush as easily as he can to do to her. “Thank you,” he replies. After a pause he says with a laugh, “This feels kind of surreal, doesn’t it?”

“It does,” she agrees. “But really nice, right?”

“Definitely really nice,” he laughs. Nova laughs along, lolling her head to the side as she watches the smile overtake his face. Forget seas and skies intertwining in the distance or endless expanses of mountains, this is her favorite sight to see.

“But can I ask you a question?” she mumbles, lifting her mug to her lips to take a small sip of the scalding tea.

“Of cour-”

Niall’s answer is cut off by a server placing their plates of food on the table. He offers them a friendly smile like he knows he just accidentally interrupted a conversation. With a quiet, “Enjoy your food!” he’s gone.

Niall smiles, repeating, “Of course.”

She laughs softly and shakes her head as she stares resolutely down at her quite delicious looking sandwich. “Last night… What made you tell me? How you felt about me, I mean.”

He sighs through his first bite of his wrap, pausing to murmur, “Oh, this is really good,” under his breath. It eases the tension and makes Nova giggle, him laughing along after he realized that she heard him. “I don’t know, really,” he says with a shrug of his shoulders after he finishes his bite. “I guess just after being with you so much the past couple of days really lowered my resolve. To be honest, I think that’s been happening for a while now. It was really only a matter of time before it slipped.” He stops to sip his tea and she watches quietly as his throat bobs and then his warm blue eyes catch hers once again. “I just remember last night laying on the other end of the couch and watching you and just thinking about how much it was physically hurting to hold it in. In that moment I felt like chancing losing you as a friend was worth getting the huge secret off my chest. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could just be your friend.

“And then, when we started talking about soul mates and you said you didn’t think you’d find yours… It just find of broke my composure. I’m not saying I’m your soulmate but it saddened me knowing that here I was, sitting across from you, hopelessly in love, and you weren’t sure anyone would ever feel that way towards you. That made my decision more than anything else, I think.”

Nova’s face feels hot after his confession, knees a bit weak even though she’s sitting down. She can’t even describe the happiness that she feels knowing that he loves her this much. He is right; it’s something she thought she’d never experience and now that she has, Nova doesn’t think anything else could top it.

“Do you regret telling me?” she whispers, looking for any hesitance on his face. She finds none.

He lets out a cackle. “Babe, do I look like I regret it?” And the thing is, he doesn’t. No matter what negative thoughts Nova felt this morning, Niall has done everything to prove them wrong. He looks happy and relieved that he no longer has to worry about his secret. He looks… content, like there’s nowhere else he would rather be. So no, she supposes he doesn’t regret it.

“I’m just making sure,” she snickers softly.

They are quiet as they take more bites of food, humming every once and awhile. After a few minutes of this, Niall finishes chewing before he says, “Can I ask you a question?” He raises his eyebrows as he takes a sip of tea. She nods her head, still chewing a bite of her turkey panini. “Were you ever going to tell me how you felt about me?”

The bluntness of the question shocks her; Nova didn’t know what to expect but it wasn’t this. She coughs after the food has gone down and her eyes widen a bit. “Um,” she starts.

“Sorry,” he cuts her off. “I didn’t intend to sound so passive aggressive. I didn’t mean it that way, I swear. I was just wondering.”

“No that’s okay,” Nova tells him as she collects herself from the initial alarm. “I’m not really sure, to be honest,” she grimaces. “I know that’s not the answer you were looking for, and I get that, but I was just so afraid. I was so scared of losing you and being rejected that I just decided that it was something I would keep to myself forever. I was also convinced that you didn’t and would never have feelings for me. I was pretty set in that mindset too.”

“I thought the girls knew?” Niall halts her.

“They did. But that wasn’t my choice. They pretty much figured it out by themselves and interrogated me until I had no option but to give in. They had a field day with it until they realized how serious I was about keeping it a secret and being genuinely afraid of you finding out.”

“Yikes,” he murmurs in sympathy.

“Yeah,” she frowns, remembering that day quite clearly. It is not something she looks back fondly on to say the least. “So, to answer your question, no, I didn’t plan on telling you. Whether I would’ve let it out on accident or not is another question though.”

Nova hates having to admit that to him. She wishes she could say that she wanted to tell him and she was just waiting for the perfect moment but she wasn’t. She purposefully got out of every opportunity she had to say something because she was too terrified. The fear of the unknown is what kidnapped her in the end and kept her from seeing all the things her friends were so adamant about. So revealing that to Niall is embarrassing, now that he knows how weak and cowardly she is. She should have been stronger, more courageous. She should have taken their word for it.

“Hey, pet,” Niall murmurs, grabbing her left hand that lies atop the table. “Look at me, love.”

Nova raises her head, finally meeting his gaze. Instead of finding traces of animosity, she finds complete trust and understanding- love. “It’s okay,” he says softly. “I was afraid too. You think if I wasn’t scared I would have waited a year to tell you how I felt?”

“I guess not,” she gives in.

“Exactly,” he affirms. “You have to remember that I confessed my love for you at like four in the morning when I was groggy.”

“Are you saying that you only told me you loved me because you were tired?” she jokes.

He laughs boisterously, the sound warming her entire body from her ears down to her toes. She thinks it might be what love does.

“No, I’m saying that I was more willing to be vulnerable. And I’m glad I was.”

“Me too,” she agrees shyly.

“I just want you to know…” Niall begins, his face suddenly solemn. “It sounds crazy but I can see myself with you, always. It scares me sometimes because I never thought I was ready for that but late at night when I can’t sleep I imagine doing the simple things with you, like cleaning or watching TV and I want that, so bad that my chest would ache with it. I want it all with you.”

The words echo throughout Nova’s head and her body feels numb and floaty, like she’s hovering a few feet off of her chair. She can’t process the words, doesn’t know what to do with I want it all with you.

It doesn’t scare her, not really. Because she’s imagined her own things late at night; Friday nights in watching reruns and staying up until two a.m. to talk, early mornings before work where all she wants to do is go back to sleep but he somehow makes her see sunlight that hasn’t yet risen. Saturday mornings making pancakes for their children.

She wants it all too. Everything- the fights that make them both slam doors, the emergencies that send their hearts into panic. She wants it all. And she never wants to get rid of it.

Her silence must scare Niall because suddenly his skin is pale and his eyes glimmer with unshed tears. “Novs, you don’t have to feel the same, okay? We can just leave everything where it is and see where the future takes us, yeah?” he pleads, reaching for her hand on the table and gripping it tightly, as if doing so will convince her.

As if she needs convincing.

“Niall,” she murmurs softly. “Babe,” she says clearer, gripping his hand tighter too, forcing him to focus on her. “You don’t have to worry about how I feel. I want it all too. So much. I always thought I was going to have to settle, that I would never be happy with anyone but you because no matter what I did, I couldn’t stop picturing what life would be like with you by my side.”

Niall’s whole body slumps, as if the panic that had been building up inside of him suddenly let go, like a puppet master dropping the strings. “Oh thank god,” he breathes out. Now, his eyes look wet for a completely different reason.

“I want forever, you know? If you’ll have me,” Nova says, keeping her eyes locked on his face.

“Baby,” his whispers, shaking his head in disbelief. “As if I would say no to that.” He suddenly gets up from his chair and kneels down to her, wrapping his arms around her tightly and nuzzling the top of her head.

“What are you doing?” she asks gently, too caught up in emotional turmoil to be amused.

“I just really need to hold you right now,” he murmurs into her hair.

She whispers back, “Okay,” and then they are quiet.

It’s so easy to forget the world when she’s with Niall, so now the sounds of the coffee shop filtering back through her senses almost surprises her. She hears the soft Christmas music playing over the speakers, she can hear the espresso machine running as one of the workers makes their only other customer a drink, but mostly, she hears Niall’s heartbeat.

Niall pulls away first, keeping his hand on the middle of her back as he examines her face. “I love you. Like so, so much.”

She cracks a smile, her own eyes now feeling a bit watery. “I know. I love you too. So, so much,” she repeats.

He grins and leans in closer, eyes flickering from her lips to eyes before finally closing and connecting their lips.

The kiss is raw and passionate. Nova can feel every word he’s never said being pressed against her lips, causing shivers to run down her spine. She only hopes he can feel the things she’s always been too afraid to voice.

When they pull away, Nova feels disoriented but happy. She feels so giddy but calm at the same time, the feeling only intensifying when Niall swipes his finger over her bottom lip.

He stands up from his crouch, offering his hand to her. “How about we go sit over on the couches for a little while? I can get them to top off our tea?”

“Sounds perfect,” she smiles at him gratefully, taking his hand.

He grabs both of their empty plates and mugs, smacking a dry kiss on her cheek before sauntering off to the counter. He probably doesn’t even know how much it makes her heart race.

Nova grabs all of their belongings and brings them over to the soft mustard colored couch, situating herself down close to the fire. He arrives not long after, two steaming mugs clutched in his hands. He sets them on the table in front of the couch before taking his seat on the space beside Nova. She sighs as he presses his side right against hers, warmth from his body making her feel so safe.

She rests her head against his shoulder, humming contently when he links his hands with hers. “Thought you weren’t a cuddler,” he murmurs after a few quiet moments where the only noises were the soft chatter of the men working and the crackle of the fireplace.

“I kind of lied about that?” Nova questions more than states, grimacing as she feels him giggle.

“So you are a touchy feely person! I knew it.”

“Well no,” she argues. “I still wouldn’t say I’m a touchy feely person but I do like cuddles… depending on who they’re from.”

“So then why did you always say you hated my hugs?’

Nova pulls away to look at him, replying deadpan, “Niall, I thought my feelings for you were completely unreciprocated. I’m not a masochist, you know. It wasn’t that easy hugging you when I felt so much more and thought you didn’t feel the same.”

“Oh,” he responds dumbly.

She only laughs and rests her head back down on his shoulder. “Does that mean I get cuddles now?” he asks in poorly concealed excitement.

“Sure, Niall, you can get all the cuddles you want.”

“Hmm, good.” He rests his head on Nova’s, snuggling further into the couch cushions. He absentmindedly plays with the ring on her pointer finger, spinning it around and around in silence. “Hey,” he whispers, nuzzling his nose into her hair.

“Hmm?” she asks, too sleepy for words.

He lifts her chin so she meets his gaze before leaning down to lazily connect their lips. The kiss is soft and slow, all warm touches and low hums. It’s the kind of kiss she has always dreamed of having, one based purely on strong connections and love, not one on some sexual desire that will mean nothing in the morning. These are the kind of kisses people write fairy tales about, when everyone finally gets their happily ever after. Nova thinks she’s finally found hers.

Niall is the one to pull away in the end, pressing his forehead against hers, breath fanning across her face. She’s slow to open her eyes, so content and filled with love that she thinks she may burst with it. It’s a good feeling.

When she does finally open her eyes, he’s already watching her, his pale pink lips quirked up into a handsome smile. “Hi,” she whispers.

He laughs softly, eyes crinkling around the corners and a lonesome dimple appearing on his cheek. “Hi.” He presses another chaste kiss to her lips, both of them smiling too much to kiss properly.

She pulls away finally with one last scratch to the back of his hair to grab their mugs of tea, which should be cooled to the perfect drinking temperature now. Nova hands him his mug before leaning back into his warm embrace, his arm around her shoulders, pulling her tight to his side.

Nova takes a sip of her drink, mind wandering to the one question she has left. “Niall?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you going to tell your family? About us?” she asks, nervously playing with Niall’s sleeve.

“I want to,” he answers simply. “Do you?”

“Yeah,” Nova breathes out. “I really do.”

“Then we’ll tell our families.”

“You don’t think it’s too soon?” Nova asks, a hint of insecurity clinging to her words.

Niall shakes his head, his eyes fond. “No, I think you’re a sure thing.”

She can’t control the blush that spreads across her cheeks but it makes Niall smile widely so she can’t be too embarrassed.

As they polish off their second cup of tea, they chatter about random stuff, ranging from Christmas to the art of perfecting a cake. The conversations always feel endless with Niall and it’s so refreshing to just sit and talk for hours. It feels like nothing has changed except it’s acceptable to watch him talk animatedly for too long and tuck her face in his neck as she laughs. It feels easy and that’s the way she always thought it should be.

By the time they finish their teas, they’ve somehow been at Tea Stains for two hours and the sun is beginning to lower in the sky. “We should go,” she mumbles reluctantly into his neck. “The roads are too bad to drive back in the dark.”

Niall groans softly, making her giggle as she starts to get up. “Wait,” he says, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back down next to him. “We have to take a picture.”

Nova’s smile grows as she nods and watches him pull his phone out of his pocket, which he has hardly touched since being here. He pulls up his camera and she leans back into him the way she’s been sitting for the past hour. They smile widely, just as Niall takes the first picture. It seems pretty clear how ecstatic they are and it makes those butterflies kick up again; they never seem to rest. For the second picture Niall pulls a silly face at the last moment, making Nova a blurry, laughing mess in the picture. But he grins like it’s his favorite thing so she doesn’t mind so much. The last one takes her by surprise, the shutter going off when she didn’t even know he was taking it. Niall was grinning dopily at the camera, while she was still looking at him, smile lax and eyes soft. The man next to her stares at the picture with a fond look before declaring, “I like this one,” and setting it as his wallpaper.

He tucks his phone back in his pocket afterwards, presses a kiss to her forehead, and then stands up, putting on his charcoal pea coat. He helps her put her own coat on and it’s not long before they’re both out the door, calling a polite farewell to the kind men behind the counter. As Nova climbs into Niall’s vehicle, she states, “I like it there.”

“Me too,” he says, pulling out onto the desolate road and grabbing her hand across the console. “I think it might just be my new favorite place.”

/////

The evening back at the cabin is quiet. The heat is now running, thanks to the plumber, which leaves the cabin warm and cozy. The fairy lights twinkle from inside the tree branches, brightening up the living room along with the red and orange hues of the fire. Nova and Niall don’t talk much, too sleepy from the high strung emotions of the day and not enough sleep from the night before. Tucked up next to each other on the couch, knit blanket across their laps, they are content to watch the fire burn the logs to glowing embers and occasionally, watch each other. It’s peaceful and it’s dreamlike. It’s everything they’ve wished for.

But somehow, even in the warm confines of Niall’s arms, a feeling of dread sits low in Nova’s stomach, barely there, but enough to distract her from their amazing day. Because her and Niall will be going home soon, possibly even tomorrow, and she’s scared to leave the cabin. These woods, this town has become a sort of safety blanket in the past five days they’ve been here. Her and Niall have been wrapped snugly in this bubble of just each other and she doesn’t know what it’s going to be like when she gets back to London, back into reality. She’s not sure if everything will be as peachy and easy as it’s been here. And that is what terrifies her.

It’s not like Niall couldn’t back out once they’re both back to their normal everyday life. Maybe they won’t be able to make enough time for each other. What if they find their relationship only works in the paradise they’ve made in this secluded cabin? What if they fall out of love?

“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” Niall whispers, pulling Nova away from her fears by tapping her temple gently. With her look of confusion, he elaborates, “You’re frowning.”

“It’s nothing,” she replies immediately, out of habit. She’s so used to the thick walls protecting her; it’s really hard to begin to open up the gates.

“Petal,” he chides not unkindly. She sighs in defeat. “Tell me? Please?”

“I’m just worried...” she begins, shifting under his arm. “I’m just worried that things will change once we go home.”

She doesn’t look to see his reaction right away, but when she does, she finds him looking at her in concern, eyebrows furrowed seriously. “I… I think things will change when we get home. But not in a bad way. My feelings won’t change,” he reassures.

“But what if we get home and it doesn’t work? What if we don’t ever see each other and we’re miserable or what if-”

Niall's lips press onto hers, stopping the flow of words from Nova’s mouth. Instead, he replaces the doubts with a slow burning feeling that makes her forget what she was even worried about. His hand is a consoling weight on her cheek, his rough, calloused fingers somehow able to leave soft strokes across her skin. His lips brush Nova’s like a promise and she thinks it’s the only one she’ll ever need.

Niall pulls away, hand still on her cheek, eyes burning passionately. “Stop,” he commands breathlessly. “Don’t worry about that. We’ve always seen each other a lot anyway, at least every weekend. If not, we make time. I didn’t spend the last year in love with you not thinking about what would happen if we started dating. Yes, there will be challenges, but there are challenges in every relationship. They would be boring without them. We’ll be okay. Don’t think that the magic here is the only reason we’re where we are now, okay?”

Nova nods her head. “Yeah,” she breathes. “Okay.”

“I love you, alright. I have for quite some time, you know?” he teases, thumb still caressing her cheek.

“Yeah,” she laughs. “Me too.” She leans up to capture his lips once more, him humming his assent into her mouth. She pulls away after a few pecks, gently kissing his chin before nuzzling her head into his shoulder. He wraps his arms around her back as she does the same, as he practically pulls her onto his lap.

“I love you,” Nova mumbles into his skin, just needing him to know, even if he’s heard it just a few minutes ago and probably tasted the words on her lips.

“I know,” he sighs into her hair.

A loud grumbling noise breaks the moment, both of them pulling away breathless with giggles. “Was that your stomach?” she asks, when she gains her composure.

“Yup,” Niall grins proudly, patting his tummy. “He’s a demanding little fellow, isn’t he?”

“You are so weird,” she tells him with another laugh.

“I’m also hungry.”

Her lips quirk up in a smile. “How about we make some dinner?”

/////

As the clock strikes 12, Nova represses another yawn, although she knows Niall can feel it, based on the way her entire body is leaning against him.

“Let’s go to bed,” he murmurs into her hair.

“No,” she whines. “Let’s stay up a bit longer.”

“Novs, you’re tired. Let’s go to bed.”

“But I want to spend time with you,” she pouts up at him.

He chuckles gently while peeling her away from him. As he gets up he says, “We have spent the past week together.”

“But not like this.”

“We have all the time in the world, love,” he says softly, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. “Bed time now.”

“Fine,” she relents, getting up off the sofa and dragging herself over to the stairs. When she reaches the top of the stairs, she pauses, mumbling, “Umm…”

Niall, ever the mind reader that he is, grabs her hand and leads her in the direction of the room he’s occupying. “Sleep in my room, yeah? We can cuddle.”

Nova smiles, a warm feeling spreading through her chest. She recognizes it as love. Just the thought of waking up in the morning entangled with him makes her body lax. “Okay,” she replies sleepily.

Niall laughs but says nothing else. They climb into the bed together, Niall immediately spooning up behind her. “Been waiting to do this for so long,” he hums into the back of her neck.

“Well, you don’t have to wait any longer,” she sighs, snuggling closer to him. “Good night.”

“Good night, my supernova."


	6. I Want Something That Lasts Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter before the epilogue. I hope you enjoy!

The morning begins slowly; the couple in the bed bury their faces in the sheets to hide away from the cheerful good morning of the sun. They spend too much time curled up around each other, Niall’s soft breaths hitting the back of Nova’s neck. Her legs are intertwined with his and her socked feet are tucked underneath his calf for warmth. Somewhere in her hazy mind, she is aware they need to leave the cabin today, yet she is so warm and content that she cannot bring herself to care. Niall’s right, this magical feeling won’t leave the second they’re away from this place. It’s them that brings the magic.

Nova can feel Niall awaken, his legs stretching out as he takes a large inhale of air through his nose. Soon enough, he’s pressing his lips to the small expanse of bare skin at the top of Nova’s sweater. His lips brush multiple kisses there, immediately making her smile and press into him more.

“Good morning, petal,” he murmurs, his voice extra raspy and deep that makes Nova’s eyes flutter.

“Morning,” she whispers back, gripping his arm that’s wrapped around her stomach.

Nova slowly rolls over, facing Niall. He pulls the covers up over her shoulder where it fell down in the act. He smooths his hand gently on her cheek, smiling lazily with half of his face obscured by the pillow.

“Hi,” he says.

“Hi,” she giggles back.

“I love you,” he says, wrapping an arm around her body and tugging her all the way to him so her face is tucked under his chin.

“Love you too,” she replies immediately, still very fond of saying those words out loud.

They lay like that for what feels like hours. It’s perfect, laying in the coziest bed with warm, fuzzy sheets all around her and Niall holding her close. She wants this every day. She thinks if every morning would be like this she would start it off on the right foot.

Of course, the moment is ruined by Niall’s stomach growling loudly. Nova giggles, pulling away to look at him. He’s laughing too, his eyes crinkled beautifully around the corners. “How about breakfast?” she asks knowingly.

“Sounds like heaven,” he replies, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

The two venture out of bed with reluctance and head for the kitchen. They begin to prepare waffles after a mutual decision that they couldn’t eat another full English breakfast. They flit around each other, Niall beginning to cook what’s left of the bacon, while Nova mixes the batter. Michael Buble is crooning to them about coming home for Christmas, Niall singing along mostly to humor Nova. It makes her realize how this life can be, and is, hers. No, there will not be this beautiful cabin every day with its dark wood and cozy furniture but Niall standing in front of the stove, singing and shimmying his hips will be. Nova will get these lazy weekend days, waking up late, cuddling in bed until their hunger forces them out; eating breakfast on the sofa and settling in for movies in their pajamas. She wanted it all in the past year of knowing Niall, the good and the bad, and suddenly she can see it all in front of her.

Niall plops a lob of batter on Nova’s nose, startling her. “What-”

He grins, “You zoned out.” A smile breaks on Nova’s face. “What are you smiling about, Nov?”

She shrugs, “I’m just happy.”

His smile mirrors her own. “So am I.”

After wiping the batter off of her nose, which Niall wanted to lick off, to which Nova said, “No, Niall, there are eggs in this batter and I am not going to hold your hair back while you puke.”- (of course Niall responded, “I don’t even have any hair to hold back!”)- the two continued making breakfast. They sang along to the best Christmas songs as they did, both feeling much more jolly than previous days. Once breakfast was ready, they sat down together, plating their food in silence.

After a bite of the waffles, Niall murmurs, “Babe?”

“Hmm?” she asks.

“I don’t really want to say this, but we should probably head back to London today.”

“I know,” Nova sighs.

Niall pouts, “I don’t want to leave here either, petal, I’m just trying to be realistic.”

Nova leans forward to peck his cheek. “I know, it’s okay, really.”

As they tuck into their breakfast, Nova thinks fondly on the things she’d experienced during the week at the cabin. Somehow it seemed much longer, as if they had been here for a month. A sharp pain in her chest reminds her that once they go home, anything can happen, real life can happen. There will be no bubble surrounding them and their little hideaway covered in snow. There will be things that may make them doubt, may make them fight, may make them stronger. The morning light shines a different outlook on her thoughts from last night. Now, she is no longer scared. Looking over at Niall who is scarfing down his waffles, sticky syrup rolling down his chin, hair disheveled, she is ready for their adventure together.

They finish their breakfast mostly in silence before cleaning up the remnants of their meal. The pair then separate to their respective rooms to back up their belongings. And by two they are both cleaned up and ready to hit the road, their bags shoved in the back of Niall’s car. As Nova comes down the stairs one last time, she takes a longing look around the cabin, memorizing it’s every nook and cranny and taking in the memories attached to them. She meets Niall by the front door who is stood with his keys in hand. He wraps an arm around her waist, promising a simple, “We’ll be back.”

Nova takes one last look and nods her head firmly. “I know,” she says, walking out of the blue door and into the cold winter air to begin their adventure.


	7. Epilogue: A Tree That Smells of Pine, a House That's Filled With Joy and Laughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is it! The very last chapter. This fic was so much fun to write and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!!

The sound of snow crunching under tires and the feeling of a gentle hand on Nova’s thigh are the first things she notices when she wakes up.

“Novs, we’re here,” Niall murmurs quietly.

Nova sits up and takes in a deep breath, immediately looking out the window towards the dark cabin looming in the night sky. A smile tugs on her face. They’re back to where it all began.

Almost a year later, Nova and Niall have returned to the cabin where their relationship started to celebrate their anniversary and to get some quality time together before they have Christmas with their families. The year has been crazy, full of struggles and fear but the prospect of one week at the cabin seems to immediately melt all of that away for the couple.

“It’s good to be here,” she says softly as Niall pulls into the garage.

He looks over at her fondly, thumbing at her cheek before unbuckling his seatbelt. “It is,” he agrees.

After transporting everything from the car into the cabin, Nova turns on the kettle while Niall fetches Christmas decorations.

Both Nova and Niall wanted to come back here before Christmas but Nova insisted that they needed to decorate for the holiday, much like they did the year before. So even though they’re both tired, as they only left London after they were done with work for the day, they decided to put up the decorations as soon as they got there anyway.

Once the water has come to a boil, Nova grabs two mugs in the cabinet and dumps hot chocolate mix in each before pouring in the water, embellishing each with candy canes and whipped cream.

When she brings them into the living room, Niall whistles appreciatively. It reminds Nova so much of when he did that the last time they were here that it makes her heart soar. Some things never change. She grins as she hands one to him, kissing his cheek before tucking herself under his arm.

“My girl does know how to make a mean hot chocolate,” he hums, pulling her a bit closer.

“Is that the only reason you’ve been with me for so long?” she jokes.

“Oh good,” Niall pretends to wipe sweat off his forehead. “Now I don’t need to tell you!”

“Shut up!” Nova laughs, stepping away from him to sort through a box filled with garland. Niall’s echoing chuckle makes her smile turn a bit fonder as she pulls out the different strands.

The thing is, Nova always thought that after being with someone for a long time the fun of it might go away; that they make not make you swoon anymore or that you may not get excited to see them. And in a way, she was right. She can’t say that she gets butterflies every time her and Niall have a date night but when she catches him looking at her for a long time with loving eyes her chest always feels warm and it reminds her so much of the early days of their relationship where everything was soft and gentle and so, so new.

So even now, she finds her smiles growing fond when she looks at him and a blush blooming on her cheeks when their eyes catch each other across a room full of people and he smiles. Every day with Niall has been an adventure, and it’s been even better than she ever could have imagined.

“Ready to get started then?” Niall asks, stepping up behind her and resting his chin on the top of her head. While lost in her thoughts, Niall put on Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which has begun to play quietly in the background.

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

Niall and Nova move around each other in perfect choreography, in a way that only people who spend a lot of time together can do. While Nova decorates the mantle, Niall puts up the tree. They both string lights and put ornaments on the tree together, giggling and joking as they do. It feels so domestic, only this time Nova doesn’t have to be afraid of that feeling because it is domestic and it’s supposed to be.

By the time the entire cabin is decorated, their hot chocolate has long since been drained, their second movie is well on its way to being over, and both parties are tired. They settle on the couch, tucked close together to watch the rest of The Polar Express.

The cabin is dark, only illuminated by the lights on the mantle and tree and the glow coming from the TV. The sound of the crackling fire makes Nova’s eyes flutter languidly, so happy and comfortable wrapped up tight in her boyfriend’s arms.

“Isn’t it crazy to think that this is where we first kissed?” Niall whispers.

“It is,” Nova grins, rolling over onto her back to look at him. “Isn’t it crazy it’s almost been a year?” she shoots back.

“So crazy,” he grins too before pulling her into a kiss. “I love you,” he whispers against her lips.

She can’t help the smile that overtakes her face, making any more kissing very difficult. “I love you too.”

There is a pause before Niall snorts. “Can you believe our friends set us up?”

Nova laughs loudly. “I never thought they would meddle in our love life but I guess I’m glad they did.”

A couple months after Christmas, Nova and Niall had accidentally found out that their friends purposely didn’t leave London to go to Niall’s cabin. There were plenty of times they could have but they were sick of Nova and Niall’s obliviousness so they decided to leave them alone for a week. Although it was not their place to do that, they can’t say it didn’t work.

“I guess I am too,” Niall grins cheesily before leaning in to kiss her again, and again, and again.

It’s moments like this that Nova truly does marvel at how far they’ve come. She remembers last year how anxious she was being alone at the cabin with him, too afraid of sharing her feelings. She can’t help but think that that was the best thing that could have ever happened to her. Niall is the best thing that has ever happened to her.

She snuggles closer to him gratefully as Niall wraps his arm around her tighter, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Nova feels like she’s exactly where she needs to be.

/////

 

The 23rd of December begins much like the other mornings the couple has spent in the cabin. Socked feet rustle the sheets as they shuffle in their sleep and legs are intertwined, not for warmth but for comfort, as they find that in each other more than anywhere else.

They awake with the late morning sun, when it streams through the blinds and begs them to get up to appreciate its light shining off the silvery snow.

Nova nuzzles her face in Niall’s sleep warm neck, humming quietly. She wants nothing more than to stay in bed all day but they can’t. The pair are heading off to their families for the holidays, and before that, they want to privately exchange some of their Christmas gifts.

“Morning, my supernova,” Niall’s gruff voice cuts through the quiet.

“Good morning,” Nova grins at him, half of her face obscured by the pillow.

Niall grins back, staring at her for a couple of seconds before smoothing his thumb down her cheek. “I’m so lucky.”

Nova has to close her eyes, overwhelmed with so many feelings, with love. There’s nothing she can say to that, so instead she turns her head and kisses his hand resting on her cheek. “Let’s go eat,” she whispers.

Niall rolls onto his back and groans as it cracks. “Make me eggs and I may just have to keep you forever,” he jokes.

“Then I guess I’ll have to make you eggs,” Nova replies, semi seriously.

“Then I guess you will,” he replies softly, a glimmer of something in his eyes that she can’t read.

Ignoring the flutter in her stomach, Nova goes downstairs to begin breakfast. Not long after she’s begun making scrambled eggs, she feels warm arms wrap around her midsection as she stands at the stove.

“I love you,” he says, kissing her temple before putting toast in the toaster.

“Right back at ya,” she says, making both of them laugh.

They eat their breakfast amongst excited chatter, talking about Christmas day celebrations and gifts they can’t wait to unwrap. Soon enough, the pair move into the living room to do their gift exchange, each with a cup of tea. They are both wearing the tackiest matching Christmas pajamas (picked out by Nova, of course), which keep them warm in the chilly cabin.

They pop on The Santa Clause for background noise as open their presents. Nova and Niall sit next to the tree on the floor, blankets covering their lap as they sip their tea.

Since the pair still wanted to exchange gifts on Christmas, they decided to exchange the most personal and sappy gifts that they got each other in private. Secretly, Nova is so glad because this moment, in this beautifully decorated cabin where their relationship began, giving each other gifts that are sentimental is so special.

“You open yours first,” Nova says, handing Niall a wrapped box, decorated with ribbon and a bow.

Niall makes a face at his present for her. “Yours looks prettier than mine.”

“Oh it doesn’t matter,” Nova giggles. “Just open it please!”

Niall doesn’t waste any more time; he rips through the wrapping paper in record time and is opening the box before Nova can even swallow her sip of tea.

Inside the box, Niall finds a navy blue scrapbook with dozens of shiny, metallic stars. He gently runs his hand over the design, looking over at his girlfriend in awe. “They’re novas,” he murmurs.

Nova laughs loudly. “Maybe not, babe. But open it!”

Niall gently opens the cover, looking at the first page, before flipping through a couple more, his smile extremely bright. Inside the scrapbook are pages upon pages filled with pictures of them, movie tickets, and other random things that they’ve done over the past year. And the first page began with pictures from their first date.

“Nova,” Niall says in shock. “This is…” He shakes his head as he looks through more pages. “This is the best thing anyone has ever given me.”

“Oh stop, it’s not,” she scoffs, a blush coloring her cheeks.

“It is,” he says earnestly. “You… you visually put one of the best years of my life in this book and it means so much. You don’t even know.”

Nova’s face must be fire red at Niall’s gratitude and a warm fuzzy feeling erupts in her stomach that is oh so familiar from just a year ago. That feeling only grows stronger as Niall leans closer to her and pulls her into a soft kiss. It leaves her feeling woozy and so in love. She couldn’t be happier.

“Open yours now, please,” Niall grins, as he hands her a small and unevenly wrapped present.

Nova smiles at him fondly as she begins to tear through the paper. Inside is a small box with a brand name that she is very familiar with. Her eyes widen and she gasps. “Niall, you didn’t!”

He grins, rubbing his hand over her ankle gently. “Just open it, pet.”

Nova gently opens the box and finds the most gorgeous ring inside. It’s a shiny gold band with two small stones in the center, both a light blue. On the inside of the band is a small engraved star. She immediately knows the reference.

Her stomach erupts in butterflies. This couldn’t be an engagement ring, could it? Niall’s still sitting across from her and not on one knee, but somehow she still isn’t sure.

“I know what this looks like,” Niall murmurs, “which is exactly why I didn’t want to give it to you in front of our families. It’s not an engagement ring, but it is kind of like a promise, you know? It sounds ridiculously cliché but I wanted to get you something that signified not now but later. It’s so stupid but I somehow just know that I will always want to be with you. I think I already knew that when we went on our first date.”

Nova laughs softly through the unshed tears in her eyes she grips the ring in her hand.

“I can see myself marrying you and I want to but I think we’re both not ready yet. But this ring will remind you that I’m so in love with you and I will spend the rest of my life with you.”

“Niall,” Nova chokes out, fighting the tears that want to fall. “I can’t even explain how much I appreciate and love you. Thank you so much.” She sets the ring down before launching herself into his arms, burying her face in his neck. Their arms wrap around each other tightly and Nova can’t help but let a couple tears fall.

“You’re welcome, petal. I love you too.”

They pull apart after sharing a few kisses to fit on the ring. “I took one of your rings that you wear on your middle finger to get sized for this. I know you like to wear rings on that finger so I thought that you would like that. I also thought it would be nice to keep this bare before I put an engagement ring on it,” he says softly, running his finger over your left ring finger.

Niall takes the ring he got you and slides it down your middle finger on that same hand. They both admire it for a few seconds before Nova murmurs, “I love it. And I love you.”

The couple snuggle up on the sofa, just for an hour or two as they procrastinate their drive to their families. With a festive movie playing on the TV, Nova and Niall look through the scrapbook she made, remembering some of their best memories. And as Nova turns the page, she sees the stones on the ring glint in the sunlight and she’s filled to the brim with love and security.

Looking at that ring reminds her that she and Niall are a sure thing and as she snuggles up closer to her boy on a cold December day, she’s positive she finally found her happily ever and she can’t wait to see what happens in the sequel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't make anymore promises, but you may see more of Nova and Niall ;) Again, thank you all for reading! Please leave kudos and comments because I would love to see what you thought of it!


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